A New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) study has found little evidence that congestion pricing has caused a surge in park-and-ride activity around Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ).

The Central Business District Tolling Program Parking Study was published in July 2026 and examines parking conditions before and after the launch of congestion pricing in Manhattan south of 60th Street. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) introduced CRZ tolling on 5 January 2025. Under the programme, passenger vehicles using E-ZPass pay US$9 during peak periods to enter the zone and US$2.25 overnight. Trucks and buses pay higher rates.

The 2019 Traffic Mobility Act required New York City to study the impact of the programme on parking conditions within and around the tolling zone. NYC DOT collected parking activity data before implementation in winter and spring 2024 and after implementation in autumn 2025. The study covered 4,319 block faces, defined as one side of a street between two intersections.

The analysis included six neighbourhoods inside the CRZ, block faces around transit stations outside the zone in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, and the border area between 60th and 84th streets on Manhattan’s Upper East and Upper West Sides. The study found that parking was difficult to find in the areas examined before congestion pricing and remained difficult afterward.

However, NYC DOT said the observed changes after tolling were generally small and not clearly attributable to the programme. Inside the CRZ, parking conditions remained largely stable. Double parking decreased by 10%, while short-duration stays increased by three percentage points. Occupancy at commercial metered block faces fell during the midday and afternoon periods by 10 and nine percentage points respectively, although occupancy during those periods still exceeded 100%.

Outside the tolling zone and at the border area, parking availability remained low before and after congestion pricing. NYC DOT found that occupancy did not increase by more than five percentage points in 17 of the 20 time periods analysed.

The exceptions were Manhattan outside the CRZ in the afternoon, where occupancy increased by 6.5 percentage points, and the Bronx in the evening and overnight, where occupancy rose by 8.5 and 9.3 percentage points respectively. The report said the overnight increases were unlikely to be related to congestion pricing because the overnight toll is 75% lower than the peak charge.

The study also found that parking availability was lowest at free parking spaces. Before and after congestion pricing, occupancy at free spaces, typically residential blocks with only alternate-side parking regulations, was almost universally above NYC DOT’s 85% threshold for low availability and frequently near 100%.

By contrast, metered spaces had greater availability. Outside the CRZ and at the border area, average occupancy at metered block faces remained below 70% in 15 of the 20 time periods studied. NYC DOT said the pattern of parking changes did not indicate a discernible surge in park-and-ride behaviour. In areas where occupancy increased on unmetered blocks, the increases occurred across multiple time periods rather than being concentrated in morning and afternoon peak tolling periods.

There was, however, increased parking demand at metered block faces immediately north of the 60th Street border. The report found increases ranging from seven to 28 percentage points, most notably in the midday period.

“One of the concerns about congestion pricing was that it would encourage ‘park-and-ride’ behavior, making it more difficult to park in certain New York City neighborhoods,” NYC DOT commissioner Mike Flynn said in a statement reported by Streetsblog. “After the largest parking data collection DOT has ever undertaken, we didn’t see that happen.”

The report also argues that New York City’s underlying parking challenge is driven primarily by the mismatch between curb space demand and supply, particularly where curbside parking remains free. The Regional Plan Association (RPA) welcomed the findings, saying the report adds to evidence that congestion pricing is “delivering on its promises” while many feared negative impacts have not materialised.

“NYC DOT’s analysis found little evidence that congestion pricing has meaningfully affected parking availability or demand in neighborhoods in and near the tolling zone,” said Kate Slevin, executive vice president of RPA. The RPA said the findings reinforced wider first-year evidence from the programme, including less traffic, faster bus trips, more reliable travel times and no widespread spillover impacts.