NYC congestion pricing cut fine-particle pollution 13% in its first year, per a Columbia University study tracking all six monitored sites inside the tolling zone.

Fine-particle pollution inside Manhattan’s tolling zone dropped roughly 13% below levels expected from comparison-site trends during the first full year of New York City’s congestion-pricing program. The finding comes from a Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.

That figure represents an estimated decline of 1.3 to 1.4 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5, the fine particulate matter small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs. New York’s program, which launched January 5, 2025, is the first congestion-pricing system in the United States.