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 the 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 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 would considerably improve traffic and environmental metrics for the population inside the cordon area with no significant changes in other boroughs. In terms of accessibility to the subway, cordon pricing would mostly affect the non-Hispanic African American and non-Hispanic Asian populations as well as the residents of Queens. Furthermore, the rates of reduction in the average emission exposure vary across racial groups. Pricing strategies would help to reduce negative health outcomes of exposure to traffic related air pollution, however not all people would benefit equally from the pricing schemes.

Maps of change in daily average PM2.5 concentrations at block group level