Subway, bus ridership jumps slightly in first week of congestion pricing
NEW YORK (WABC) -- As New York City enters the fourth day of congestion pricing, preliminary data shows an increase in both subway ridership and bus ridership.
The preliminary data shows subway ridership was up 12.7% Tuesday, and bus ridership was up 10%.
The data shows on Tuesday, subway ridership was 3.777 million, 12.7% more riders than the equivalent day of last year. On buses, ridership was estimated to be around 1.28 million, 10% more than the prior year.
Meanwhile, new data shows so far the plan isn't necessarily speeding traffic up. A year ago, the average speed in Manhattan was around 11.7 mph and on Tuesday, the average speed was 11.5 mph, which is slightly slower.
But some roads have shown improvement. For example, southbound FDR Drive was cruising at 28.2 mph at 5 p.m. Tuesday, compared with 18.2 mph one year ago - that's 55% faster.
Rush hour at the tunnel crossings into Manhattan this week has been lighter than usual-in some places-by several minutes. Experts from the traffic analytics firm INRIX say that's the real surprise.
"The tunnels are pretty, you know, speedy. And yet, the downtown area shows a little bit of improvement, but not grandiose improvement. That's the shocking thing," said Bob Pishue with INRIX.
Despite an increase in subway passengers, there was no similar increase on New Jersey Transit, according to Governor Phil Murphy.
"It's only a few days, and I don't want to draw conclusions yet," Murphy said. "But I have not gotten reports that NJ Transit trains, buses and PATH trains are overflowing."
Murphy repeated his vow to keep fighting the new tolls. That, as New York City police officers fight back against drivers with doctored or phony license plates.
The real impact won't be clear for several weeks. But transportation expert and former city traffic commissioner Sam Schwartz says that the city needs to do more to limit the number of for-hire vehicles-like Uber and Lyft.
"My worry is, if the city keeps increasing the number of Ubers and Lyfts, whatever gains that we get from congestion pricing will be offset by additional vehicles that stay in the traffic all day long," Schwartz said.
On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams weighed in on the plan so far and told New Yorkers that it wasn't his idea.
"This came from our state lawmakers that allowed the MTA to do it and we have to make sure that no one is circumventing the payment. because if they don't pay, it is going to come out of the pockets and may increase the cost for everyday working class people," Adams explained in a radio interview.
ALSO READ: Congestion pricing: What you need to know about toll bill, discounts and more
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