NYC Congestion Pricing Cuts Ambulance Response Times by Over a Minute
Urban Congestion Pricing and the Response Times of Emergency Medical Services
New York City’s congestion pricing program, which charges drivers entering Manhattan’s core, has reduced total emergency medical service (EMS) travel times by just over a minute on average, according to a new NBER working paper. The study, which analyzed citywide EMS data, found that the policy’s traffic reductions translated into faster ambulance trips, with the largest gains during peak hours. The findings suggest that congestion pricing can yield public health benefits beyond its intended environmental and traffic goals.
New York City’s congestion pricing program cut total emergency medical service travel times by just over a minute on average.
- estearum
Congestion pricing is one of the few policy ideas that's so overwhelmingly positive that even the people who try to argue against it end up strengthening the argument. Love it.
"What about all the people who need to drive into the city for work?" Uhh... don't!
"What about the delivery people who need to bring this into the city?" They should be able to get in and out much faster, and their cargo makes it easy to amortize the cost!
"What about people who need to drive due to mobility issues?" Look, now they can park near their destination too!
- game_the0ry
You know what would also help traffic congestion? Allowing people to work from home.
Has the added benefit of reducing gas prices (less demand) and less greenhouse gas emissions.
- austin-cheney
My city is growing at about 25,000 people per year. Just take a second to run some numbers in your head to let that sink in. In 1990 this city was the 29th largest city in the US and now it is the 10th. By 2050 it is projected to be the 9th largest city in the US surpassing Dallas in population.
We have congestion everywhere and few transportation options. I cannot imagine the consequences of congestion pricing here. Sometimes it could take 30 minutes to get to the freeway 1.5 miles away during morning rush hour. I suspect congestion pricing here would motivate many people to simply abandon their employment if in a job where work from home is a disallowed viable possibility.
In my case I am currently unemployed and am turning down interview offers in locations I used to commute to just a few years back, because now the costs of commute are another form of wage depreciation that gets factored into the compensation rate.
- danking00
https://www.nber.org/sites/default/files/2026-08/sep26_0.pdf