(The Center Square) — The Trump administration is moving to hit the brakes on New York City’s ‘first-in-the-nation’ congestion pricing program as Gov. Kathy Hochul and other Democrats vow to fight the decision.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Transportation released a letter to Hochul explaining its decision to “terminate” approval of the program, which it previously approved under the Biden administration.
In the letter, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the congestion pricing program appears to be “driven primarily by the need to raise revenue for the Metropolitan Transit Authority system as opposed to the need to reduce congestion.” Duffy said the department will work with New York state officials to “discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations under this terminated pilot project.”
Hochul blasted the move, arguing that the program has dramatically reduced traffic congestion and tailpipe pollution in Manhattan’s busiest neighborhoods. She said the MTA has “initiated legal proceedings” to preserve this “critical” program.
“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” the Democrat said in a statement. “We’ll see you in court.”
MTA officials echoed claims that the program is achieving its intended results to reduce pollution and traffic congestion, calling the DOT’s decision a “baseless effort to snatch those benefits away from the millions of mass transit users, pedestrians and, especially, the drivers who come to the Manhattan Central Business District.”
“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,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said in a statement.
New Jersey’s Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy was among those in the tri-state region who praised the Trump administration and DOT for halting the congestion pricing program.
“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 in a statement.
New York’s ‘first-in-the-nation’ toll for drivers entering Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone during peak hours got underway on Jan. 5 after a U.S. District Court judge denied New Jersey’s last-ditch push to keep the plan from going into effect.
Under the program, passenger cars 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. There are exemptions for emergency vehicles, including ambulances, fire trucks, police cars and other government vehicles. Residents with a household income of less than $60,000 can apply for a tax credit.
New York officials say the toll will reduce tailpipe pollution and drum up more funding for the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates New York City’s fleet of buses, trains and subway cars.
Hochul abruptly hit the brakes on congestion pricing in June, citing the impact on commuters forced to pay higher tolls. But she resurrected the plan days after the Nov. 5 elections with a reduced base fare of $9 – down from the initial plan of $15. The new tolls will still hit $15 by 2031, according to the Hochul administration.
Shortly after the DOT announced that it was killing the program, Trump posted on Truth Social, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
