arrow Traffic at Charlton Street and Varick Street on July 8, 2021 Kate Hinds / WNYC Mayor Bill de Blasio is hoping to pressure the MTA to move forward—and more quickly—with its congestion pricing program. He said he’ll appoint the city’s representative to the six-person panel that will determine the charges and exemptions drivers will face, and is asking the MTA to have it up and running by next year. Congestion pricing would create a tolling zone in Manhattan below 60th Street, excluding the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway. The plan was passed by the state in 2019, in hopes of raising $1 billion in annual revenue, but was held up by the Trump administration for two years. Now, it appears to be stalling again as the MTA is working on a routine environmental review.