The New York State Assembly approved congestion pricing in Manhattan, which would include motorcycles in the tolls to be charged to motorists entering the busiest areas.

The AMA has been working with the Riders Against Congestion to get an exemption from the tolls for motorcyclists.

All road users want to reduce congestion and get where they are going faster. Creating incentives for the use of motorcycles and scooters is one way to do so.

The potential benefits of increased motorcycle and scooter ridership have been studied.

A 2007 traffic model produced by transportation engineering and planning firm Sam Schwartz PLLC simulated the impact of incorporating higher ratios of scooters and motorcycles.

Based on those findings, shifting the daytime vehicle mix to 80 percent cars and 20 percent scooters and motorcycles would result in annual reductions in carbon dioxide emissions by more than 26,000 tons, decrease delays by more than 4.6 million hours per year and decrease fuel consumption by more than 2.5 million gallons per year.

New York Assembly Member Félix W. Ortiz (D-Kings) has introduced A.B. 6080, which would explicitly exempt all motorcycles from any congestion pricing program fees, if such a program is adopted.

This is critical, because current and past congestion pricing proposals for New York City would have charged motorcycles the same amounts as cars and trucks.

The introduction of this legislation is the result of the hard work of AMA members and Riders Against Congestion making their voices heard in Albany.