Gov. Kathy Hochul is doubling down on congestion pricing, aiming to launch the controversial tolling program by January. Hochul says the plan will encourage subway use and help fund the MTA’s $15 billion upgrades, despite critics calling it a financial burden on drivers.

Congestion pricing will start in January with a $9 toll, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday. Hochul wants to restart the program with a lower cost, which is why it's being reduced from $15 for most daytime trips into Manhattan's Central Business District.

City’s congestion pricing plan is back and set to kick in on Jan. 5, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday. But the daily toll — which Hochul put on indefinite hiatus this past June, three weeks before it was supposed to go into effect — will be $9 rather than the original planned toll of $15 for at least three years,