New York City has implemented America’s first Congestion Pricing program, where cars are tolled $9 to enter Manhattan. This program will accelerate the micromobility revolution and fundamentally transform NYC’s transportation ecosystem, serving as a model for other US cities.

The toll will make people think twice before commuting in Manhattan by car. This will encourage people to embrace smaller, smarter vehicles. Instead of traffic and tolls, non-car vehicles—like scooters, ebikes, and mopeds—offer independence, economy, and freedom in dense urban environments—a remix of American car culture.

The program is not perfect. Governor Hochul tried to squash the bill, but received such intense pushback that she reversed course. The city ended up implementing a watered-down version: the toll was lowered from $15 to $9, and there is a tax on smaller plated vehicles like motorcycles. A toll on smaller vehicles doesn’t make sense; we should be incentivizing smaller vehicles, not taxing them. The tolling system should be progressive: SUVs should pay more than compact cars. But it is directionally right. We’re already seeing a reduction in congestion across Manhattan, and despite freezing temperatures, bike lanes are teeming with smaller vehicles.

Constraints breed creativity, especially in a city like New York. As a result of this policy, we’ll see people concoct all sorts of of novel ways to get around the city. We’ll see more experimentation, more creative vehicles, and more new technologies on our streets. These changes will influence other American cities. Once NYC sees less wasted hours of traffic, with less pollution, less noise, and less danger—other cities will follow. A new future for American cities is possible—one where humans reclaim our space from cars—and this policy puts NYC on a course to lead that future.

Congestion Pricing is the latest step on the journey to rethink transportation in New York, starting with the embrace of bike lines in the 2000s and the legalization of e-bikes and scooters in 2020. We’ve already seen a huge surge in micromobility in the city: in 2024, there were 44 million Citibike rides, up from 5.8 million at the program’s launch in 2013. This policy will exacerbate this trend. We don’t know exactly where the road will lead, but our streets, and our cities, will look fundamentally different in 10 years time.