(The Center Square) — A federal judge on Tuesday ruled the Trump administration’s effort to force an end to New York City’s congestion pricing program was illegal.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman issued a permanent injunction order barring the U.S. Department of Transportation from enforcing a directive to shut down the controversial tolling project, saying the federal agency exceeded its authority with the February 2025 directive to terminate the program.
“The judge’s decision is clear: Donald Trump’s unlawful attempts to trample on the self-governance of his home state have failed spectacularly,” Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Congestion pricing is legal, it works, and it is here to stay. The cameras are staying on.”
Hochul said congestion pricing has “been a once-in-a-lifetime success story” for New York City, and has “yielded huge benefits: reduced gridlock, faster trips, safer streets, and cleaner air, all while unlocking critical funding for mass transit upgrades.”
“I have been clear from day one: my administration will fight any unlawful effort by the Trump administration to attack the sovereignty of New York State with everything we’ve got,” she said. “Today, we won again.”
A department spokesperson criticized the ruling and said the federal agency was considering an appeal.
“We disagree with the court’s ruling,” the agency said in a statement. “Once again, working-class Americans are being sidelined under Governor Kathy Hochul’s policies, which impose a massive tax on every New Yorker.”
The first-in-the-nation program began a year ago after a U.S. District Court judge denied New Jersey’s last-ditch push to block it. Under the program, most cars and trucks pay a $9 toll between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends to travel from Midtown to downtown. The toll has continued as the legal challenges play out.
President Donald Trump, a native New Yorker, pledged on the campaign trail to “terminate” the toll, claiming it would cause businesses to leave the city.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul in February saying the Federal Highway Administration was pulling its approval of congestion pricing and would work with New York State on an “orderly termination of the tolls.”
Duffy called congestion pricing a “slap in the face” to working-class Americans and small business owners and set a deadline to shut the program down. The city filed a lawsuit seeking to block the move. In April, Duffy told Hochul the transportation department might withhold environmental approvals or project funding if the state does not end congestion pricing. Hochul declined.
But Liman issued a temporary restraining order in May barring the transportation department from enforcing a directive to shut down the program.
“We’ve said it all along, and Judge Liman’s clear, detailed ruling leaves no doubt: congestion pricing is legal,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber wrote in a statement. “It’s here to stay. And it works.”
