Traffic entering Manhattan below 60th Street dropped by 7.5% in the first week after the start of a controversial $9 toll on driving in that area.

Early data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority suggests that traffic has dropped around Manhattan’s core.

Drivers using the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels saw travel times drop due to congestion pricing, an MTA report said.

The introduction of a $9 congestion fee has resulted in faster speeds on some of the city’s famously snarled streets and fewer commuters on the bridges and tunnels. “The traffic is absolutely less, even during rush hour,