Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) President Andrew S. Rein released this statement on behalf of the CBC:

"Congestion pricing is the transit trifecta—providing critical funding for transit, reducing emissions, and easing congestion. We should be staying the course.

All sectors should contribute to improving transit, including drivers. Furthermore, it is a regional system that underpins the State’s economic engine. Sharing the cost of investment is the best strategy for the environment and the economy.

All should be acutely aware that alternatives that raise New York’s already highest-in-the-nation business taxes or deplete the State’s precious reserves come with real consequences.

Our transit system urgently needs investment to bring it to a state of good repair; we should not be hurtling towards more ‘Summers of Hell.’

The State should release the funds it has committed to the current capital plan and ensure the MTA speeds up its investments in state of good repair work. More delays only risk the system’s stability and will cost more.

No question that congestion pricing is a big change, and there rarely is a perfect time. That's why we have always said—the program should be closely monitored and fine-tuned to meet its objectives."