NEW YORK (WABC) — The U.S. Department of Transportation has pulled its approval for the MTA’s congestion pricing toll program, but the MTA is vowing to take the decision to federal court to ensure the plan will continue.
In a release Wednesday, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said it sent a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul informing her that the department had rescinded the agreement.
“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. “Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes. But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways. It’s backwards and unfair. The program also hurts small businesses in New York that rely on customers from New Jersey and Connecticut. Finally, it impedes the flow of commerce into New York by increasing costs for trucks, which in turn could make goods more expensive for consumer. Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn’t be reserved for an elite few.”
Duffy said his agency will work with the state on an “orderly termination of the tolls.”
MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber released a statement that the MTA has already filed papers in federal court in response to the DOT’s letter:
“Today, the MTA filed papers in federal court to ensure that the highly successful program – which has already dramatically reduced congestion, bringing reduced traffic and faster travel times, while increasing speeds for buses and emergency vehicles – will continue notwithstanding this 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.”
Trump later posted on social media: “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE King!
Hochul was quick to respond that congestion has dropped dramatically and commuters are getting to work faster, Broadway shows are selling out, school buses are getting kids to class on time and yellow cab trips have increased by 10%.
“Transit ridership is up, drivers are having a better experience, and support for this program is growing every day,” Hochul said. “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”
Launched on Jan. 5, the city’s system uses license plate readers to impose a $9 toll on most passenger cars entering Manhattan neighborhoods south of Central Park.
Officials and leaders react to the decision to pull approval for congestion pricing
City Comptroller Brad Lander released a statement that congestion pricing had been working, saying “traffic is down, travel times have plummeted 30%, transit ridership has surged, and hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing to improve our subways and buses.”
“We must not let Trump drag us back to crappier subway service, standstill traffic, and smoggier air,” Lander went on to say. “Having been at the forefront of the fight to implement congestion pricing, I am appalled that President Trump and his U.S. Department of Transportation put this in reverse, purely for political purposes.”
The Riders Alliance argued that public transit riders are enjoying faster and more reliable bus service throughout New York and New Jersey.
“We organized for a decade, held two governors accountable, and prevailed in court in three states after years of exhaustive environmental studies. We are committed to maintaining and expanding on our victory and will defend it with everything we have,” Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum said.
However Borough President Vito Fossella released a statement thanking the Trump administration for terminating the approval:
“It was always a three-strike loser and a nonstarter for Staten Island – more traffic, more air pollution and more tolls. The program was revived unceremoniously, at a politically opportune time for political reasons. To bring an end to the program is the right thing not just for Staten Island but for the City as a whole. The MTA should follow this action by turning off the toll readers and relieving Staten Island residents from this unnecessary and burdensome tax once and for all.”
The toll survived several lawsuits trying to halt it before its launch, including from the state of New Jersey, unionized teachers in New York City, a trucking industry group and local elected leaders in the Hudson River Valley, Long Island and northern New Jersey.
New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer also praised the move to halt the program, calling it a “huge win for Jersey families, their wallets and the environment.”
“From Day One, when we first started this fight, we knew that the Congestion Tax was just a giant cash grab for New York and the MTA – all on the backs of hardworking Jersey families,” he said. “They never cared about how the tax would hurt Jersey families – they just needed the cash to pay for the MTA’s woeful mismanagement.”
(The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.)
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