New York City cordon pricing and its impacts on disparity, transit accessibility, air quality, and health

Abstract

Despite recognized positive congestion and environmental impacts, cordon pricing has sometimes been criticized from a social equity perspective. This paper examines the impact of cordon pricing on three key equity indicators in New York City: traffic, public transportation access, and environmental concerns. The share of congested links, accessibility to the subway, and the population-weighted mean exposure to PM2.5 emissions are among the metrics used to measure equity indices. We show that implementing cordon pricing in Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD) would considerably improve traffic, and environmental metrics for the population inside the cordon area with no significant changes in other boroughs. The CBD will experience a reduction of congested links between 2.1% and 3.6% and a reduction of PM2.5 concentration of 18%. In terms of accessibility to the subway, cordon pricing would mostly affect the non-Hispanic population as well as residents of Queens. The rates of reduction in the average emissions exposure to PM2.5 will vary across racial groups. The pricing strategies will disproportionately help to reduce the negative health outcomes of exposure to traffic related air pollution of residents of Manhattan’s CBD.