Has congestion pricing reduced 911 response times?

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The MTA said congestion pricing would reduce emergency response times, but has it?

Before the tolling plan was approved and the license plate readers were installed, the MTA said it would reduce the time it takes for fire and medical crews to get to emergencies south of 60th Street.

The tolling program started in January of 2025.

According to the FDNY, emergency response times improved by an average of one second for firefighters in the central business district when comparing all of 2025 to 2024.

In an email to 7 On Your Side, a FDNY spokesperson said "...response times are basically flat, so there is no evidence that congestion pricing impacted those responses."

When it comes to response times for EMS workers, they increased by 57 seconds in the Central Business District and everywhere else in the city, according to the FDNY. While EMS response times increased, a City Hall spokesperson said they're significantly lower in the congestion pricing zone than other parts of the city.

The Department attributes that to a separate issue 7 On Your Side has covered extensively, low EMS staff levels and an increase in call volume.

"The reality of the call volume, it's overwhelming for such a small force in a big city," said FDNY Commissioner Lillian Bonsignore in a recent interview.

The MTA has a different take.

It highlights a new analysis of congestion pricing out of Massachusetts that was published this month.

Researchers found EMS response times to incidents declined by approximately 7 to 9 seconds and travel time to hospitals fell by roughly 54 to 59 seconds in the zone. It also found an overall reduction in vehicular traffic.

The research is part of what they're calling "working papers" and it has not been peer reviewed yet.

The President of the EMS union, Michael Greco, told Eyewitness News that while the research is a good start, he would like to see a peer-reviewed study done on response times. He agreed with the FDNY saying, "On the ground, we're not seeing a reduction in response times."

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