U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy moved Wednesday to rescind approval for congestion pricing. The MTA claims he lacks the power to end the tolling program. (Sophie Nieto-Muñoz | New Jersey Monitor)
President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday moved to rescind federal approvals for New York’s congestion pricing program, possibly dooming the steep tolls motorists pay to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.
The program, which won approval from the Federal Highway Administration last year and launched in January, charges motorists a $9 toll to enter the city’s central business district in a bid to reduce gridlock and bring $15 billion into the Metropolitan Transportation Agency’s capital budget.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a Wednesday letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that he concluded the scope of the congestion pricing program exceeds the authority authorized by a congressional program aimed at reducing congestion on roadways.
Duffy also charged that the absence of a non-tolled route into the congestion zone was unauthorized by a 1998 federal law, saying New York lacks the authority to toll all entrances into the area.
“I share the President’s concerns about the impacts to working class Americans who now have an additional financial burden to account for in their daily lives,” his letter reads.
Duffy added he believes the program’s tolls were set to meet the Metropolitan Transportation Agency’s capital revenue targets rather than to reduce congestion in Manhattan. Any tolls “should not be driven primarily by revenue targets, particularly revenue targets that have nothing to do with highway infrastructure,” Duffy said.
Early data from the New York transit agency showed a 7.5% decrease in vehicles entering the congestion tolling zone between Jan. 5 and Jan. 31, and commute times on some crossings into lower Manhattan were cut roughly in half.
The Trump administration’s move to end congestion pricing is already facing a legal challenge from the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which filed a lawsuit in federal court Wednesday to block it.
The agency argues the federal government lacks the authority to terminate the program, saying Trump is moving to end it for “blatantly political reasons.”
“The Administration’s efforts to summarily and unilaterally overturn the considered determinations of the political branches—federal, state, and city—are unlawful, and the Court should declare that they are null and void,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit says that the federal government has not cited a statute that would allow it to rescind an approval issued three months earlier.
A pause in congestion pricing would cost the agency and constituent agencies charged to enforce congestion pricing $52 million each month in lost tolls and maintenance and operation costs, it adds.
“It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review — and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program — USDOT would seek to totally reverse course,” Janno Lieber, CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, said in a statement Wednesday.
Trump’s move to end congestion pricing is being celebrated by New Jersey officials on both sides of the aisle.
Gov. Phil Murphy has opposed the program, claiming in court filings that federal authorities failed to properly weigh its impact on air quality and traffic in New Jersey. On Wednesday, he thanked Trump for moving to end it.
“While I have consistently expressed openness to a form of congestion pricing that meaningfully protects the environment and does not unfairly burden hardworking New Jersey commuters, the current program lines the MTA’s pockets at the expense of New Jerseyans,” Murphy said.
State Sen. Tony Bucco (R-Morris) also commended Trump “for his leadership and dedication to the people of New Jersey.”
“This is not only a win for commuters simply trying to earn a living, but it also ensures that all New Jerseyans will no longer be forced to bear the unfair burden of these ridiculous fees,” Bucco said.
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