What are the key takeaways from this Morning Brew Daily episode?

Key insights include: **Congestion Pricing Results:** NYC's $9 toll below 60th Street eliminated 73,000 daily vehicles, increased Lincoln Tunnel speeds 51%, Queens Midtown Tunnel 24%, and Manhattan Bridge 29%, while business visits rose 3.4% without hurting local commerce or restaurant reservations.; **Elite College Recruiting:** Companies recruiting exclusively from short lists of schools jumped from 17% in 2022 to 26% in 2025, focusing on 30 colleges out of 4,000 total. Recent college grad unemployment climbed from 4.3% in 2023 to 5.8% in 2025.; **Fitness Industry Shift:** Google searches for cardio workouts declined 3% monthly since 2021 while strength training interest climbed 6%. Planet Fitness now dedicates 50% of floor space to strength equipment, driving 13% revenue growth and 30% stock price increase over five years.

How long is this episode of Morning Brew Daily?

This episode is 27 minutes long. SignalCast provides an AI-generated summary so you can get the key insights in about 3 minutes.

Morning Brew Daily

NYC’s Congestion Pricing Actually Working? & Companies Want Ivy-Leaguers Again

January 6, 2026

27 min episode · 2 min read

Episode

27 min

Read time

2 min

Topics

Productivity, Health & Wellness, Leadership

AI-Generated Summary

Published Jan 6, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓Congestion Pricing Results: NYC's $9 toll below 60th Street eliminated 73,000 daily vehicles, increased Lincoln Tunnel speeds 51%, Queens Midtown Tunnel 24%, and Manhattan Bridge 29%, while business visits rose 3.4% without hurting local commerce or restaurant reservations.
✓Elite College Recruiting: Companies recruiting exclusively from short lists of schools jumped from 17% in 2022 to 26% in 2025, focusing on 30 colleges out of 4,000 total. Recent college grad unemployment climbed from 4.3% in 2023 to 5.8% in 2025.
✓Fitness Industry Shift: Google searches for cardio workouts declined 3% monthly since 2021 while strength training interest climbed 6%. Planet Fitness now dedicates 50% of floor space to strength equipment, driving 13% revenue growth and 30% stock price increase over five years.
✓Pizza Market Decline: Pizza dropped from second to sixth place in US chain sales rankings as average cheese pizza prices hit $17 nationally. Pizza Hut posted eight consecutive quarters of sales declines while delivery apps expanded competition from limited menus to every cuisine available.

What It Covers

NYC's congestion pricing reduces traffic by 11% in first year while companies shift back to recruiting from elite colleges. Fitness culture pivots from cardio to weightlifting as pizza chains struggle with declining sales.

Key Questions Answered

•Congestion Pricing Results: NYC's $9 toll below 60th Street eliminated 73,000 daily vehicles, increased Lincoln Tunnel speeds 51%, Queens Midtown Tunnel 24%, and Manhattan Bridge 29%, while business visits rose 3.4% without hurting local commerce or restaurant reservations.
•Elite College Recruiting: Companies recruiting exclusively from short lists of schools jumped from 17% in 2022 to 26% in 2025, focusing on 30 colleges out of 4,000 total. Recent college grad unemployment climbed from 4.3% in 2023 to 5.8% in 2025.
•Fitness Industry Shift: Google searches for cardio workouts declined 3% monthly since 2021 while strength training interest climbed 6%. Planet Fitness now dedicates 50% of floor space to strength equipment, driving 13% revenue growth and 30% stock price increase over five years.
•Pizza Market Decline: Pizza dropped from second to sixth place in US chain sales rankings as average cheese pizza prices hit $17 nationally. Pizza Hut posted eight consecutive quarters of sales declines while delivery apps expanded competition from limited menus to every cuisine available.

Notable Moment

A brand new Polymarket account placed a $30,000 bet on Friday that Maduro would leave office by January. The next day he was captured, netting $437,000 profit and prompting Congress to introduce legislation banning government officials from betting with insider information.

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Books, tools, and gear mentioned in this episode

SignalCast may earn commission on purchases via these links. As an Amazon Associate, SignalCast earns from qualifying purchases.

Tools

NetSuite by Oracle
by Oracle
“💼 SPONSORS ["NetSuite by Oracle", "url": "https://netsuite.com/brew"]”
Polymarket
“A brand new Polymarket account placed a $30,000 bet on Friday that Maduro would leave office by January.”
Rubrik Agent Cloud
by Rubrik
“💼 SPONSORS ["Rubrik Agent Cloud", "url": "https://rubrik.com"]”

Products

iShares Volley ETF
by iShares
“💼 SPONSORS ["iShares Volley ETF", "url": "https://www.ishares.com"]”
Amazon

company

Planet Fitness
“Planet Fitness now dedicates 50% of floor space to strength equipment, driving 13% revenue growth and 30% stock price increase over five years.”
Pizza Hut
“Pizza Hut posted eight consecutive quarters of sales declines while delivery apps expanded competition from limited menus to every cuisine available.”