New York City's congestion pricing program, the first of its kind in the United States, was initially to have charged a toll of $15 during daytime hours for passenger vehicles driving in Manhattan south of 60th Street starting June 30.

Like midtown Manhattan’s bumper-to-bumper traffic, the long journey of New York’s congestion pricing plan has been marked by starts and stops, culminating with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement Thursday that the new tolls will finally take effect on January 5th.

With the clock ticking down a on a friendly administration in Washington, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lifted her pause of the controversial congestion pricing program, bringing it back with a lower $9 fee to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.