On Aug. 14, The DOH released its first comprehensive evaluation of congestion pricing’s impacts, after the policy was implemented in January 2025.
The city’s air quality remained stable or improved slightly in the first year of congestion pricing, which continues a two-decade long trend of declining air pollution, according to the department.
“We’ve seen fewer vehicles entering Manhattan’s central business district and more people choosing to bike, walk and take mass transit,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Flynn.
The Congestion Relief Zone was measured, as well as areas where environmental concerns were specifically raised, such as cross-borough expressways.
Although most sites stayed steady or improved slightly, the department reported that the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway didn’t improve as much as would be expected in comparison to other measured areas.
The findings in the report measured concentrations of four traffic-related air pollutants: fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO) and black carbon (BC).
The city uses integrated monitors to measure air quality — the same tools used by the Environmental Protection Agency, to get exact pollutant mass values, rather than estimates.
Since monitoring began in 2008-09, most measured pollutants have decreased, according to the Environmental & Health Data Portal. One exception is wildfire smoke, a source of PM2.5 and BC in certain summers.
“Cleaner air means healthier communities," said NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister F. Martin. “New Yorkers deserve to know how major policies affect the air they breathe.”
