Manhattan could become first U.S. city to levy a congestion charge

Some numbers for context: New York City contains 8.5 million residents, the metropolitan area counts 23.7 million, and 60 million tourists visited NYC last year; NYC suffers the second-worst traffic congestion in the United States, the third-worst in the world; the average speed of Midtown NYC traffic is 4.7 miles per hour; the congestion costs the local economy $20 billion per year.