<http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/downloads/pdf/cpfactsheet.pdf>
Myth: A majority of non-Manhattan residents rely on their cars to commute to Manhattan. Fact: Only 5% of commuters in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx commute to Manhattan by car –and of that number, only about one in six report that they drive because of inaccessible or inconvenient mass transit options.
Myth: Congestion pricing is a tax on the working class. Fact: Among commuters who live beyond walking distance to a subway station, workers earning less than $50,000 a year are three times as likely to take the bus, subway, or commuter rail to work than to drive. Therefore, the congestion fee would be paid mostly by those at the upper half of the income distribution, as well as by businesses.
<http://www.nyc.gov:80/portal/site/nycgov/ menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp? pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F% 2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2008a% 2Fpr093-08.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1>
Third, some worry that congestion pricing would penalize low-income New Yorkers who regularly commute to Manhattan by car. Even given the fact that the average car commuter has a substantially higher income than most subway commuters, there are certainly ways to address this concern, too.
We could, for example, create a refund for such commuters that offsets what they'd pay in congestion pricing fees that are over and above the comparable cost of commuting by subway. And we're currently exploring such ideas with members of the Legislature. But the fact remains: Congestion pricing charges the approximately 5% who drive and pay $3.30 per gallon for fuel and $30-$50 per day for parking - and uses the money to build mass transit for the 95% who can't afford the luxury of their own polluting autos.
<http://prtl-prd-web.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bk_cp_benefits.pdf>
Northern Brooklyn will experience a 22.1% reduction in most severe traffic, and the rest of Brooklyn will experience an 8.3% reduction. By reducing traffic jams, congestion pricing will speed buses and improve reliability. This will also result in faster travel times for those that must drive. Reduction in Traffic Jams