A new study confirms air quality has improved significantly in the congestion zone of Manhattan and nearby since congestion pricing went into effect about a year ago.
Cornell University researchers say air pollution – in the form of particulate matter has dropped 22 percent in the area below 60th Street in Manhattan in the first six months of the congestion program. The study's lead author Tim Fraser says they scattered 42 air quality monitors and the results also show improved air quality in all five boroughs and parts of New Jersey.
"Smog doesn't rise or fall in a one to one way. It compounds. Every extra car, every extra delivery truck we can reroute or have come at night makes a big impact."
Fraser says the study shows congestion pricing didn’t just move the air pollution to the outer boroughs by rerouting traffic.