Trump admin moves to block NYC congestion toll program

Yahoo

19-02-2025

President Donald Trump's administration has moved to block the New York City congestion pricing toll program.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy penned a letter informing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday that the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) approval of the pilot program was "not authorized by law."
"New York State's congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners," Duffy also said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital. "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," he added. "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[s]. Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn't be reserved for an elite few."
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In his letter, Duffy explained the legal avenue the administration will take to stop the pilot program.
The Federal Highway Administration and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) entered into an agreement on Nov. 21, 2024, approving the Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP) under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP). Approved by Congress in 1991, VPPP is an exception to the general rule prohibiting tolling on highways as a pilot to test congestion reduction techniques. New York is one of 15 states authorized to implement the program.
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Duffy's letter notes the "cordon pricing" method of tolling that charges tolls to drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th Street under the program means drivers are charged no matter what roads they use and "provides no toll-free option for many drivers who want or need to travel by vehicle in this major urbanized area."
"No statue contemplates cordon pricing in a situation where tolls are inescapable," Duffy wrote.
Duffy also said the "imposition of tolls under the CBDTP pilot project appears to be driven primarily by the need to raise revenue for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) system as opposed to the need to reduce congestion."
"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," Duffy wrote.
Citing legal challenges to the program and concerns expressed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and New Jersey Department of Transportation Commissioner Fran O'Connor, Duffy said that he reviewed the tolling authority granted under VPPP to the CBDTP pilot project for compliance under federal law and "concluded that the scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress under VPPP."
"To be sure, the termination of the program may deprive the transit system of funding, but any reliance on that funding stream was not reasonable given that FHWA's approval was not authorized by law," Duffy wrote. "The FHWA will contact NYSDOT and its project sponsors to discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations under this terminated pilot project."
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New York City councilman Bob Holden, a Democrat representing Queens, praised Trump, saying the president "kept his promise to New Yorkers by stopping the unfair congestion pricing scheme, a scam tax that was unjust from the very start."
"This is a major victory for working- and middle-class families who were forced to shoulder another financial burden just to navigate their own city," Holden said. "New Yorkers deserve real solutions to traffic and transit issues—not another cash grab disguised as policy."
A staunch critic of the program who sued over the pilot, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., thanked Trump and Duffy "for keeping their promise to examine and halt New York City's Congestion Pricing scheme."
"As I've said from the beginning and reaffirmed in our lawsuit, this congestion tax was approved by the Biden Administration in violation of federal law, as the proper environmental studies required under the National Environmental Policy Act were never conducted," Malliotakis said in a statement obatined by Fox News Digital. "President Trump is a New Yorker who understands the negative impact this additional toll had on my constituents, local businesses and our city's economy."
"Today's actions are a victory for hardworking, taxpaying commuters who have been unfairly burdened by this toll and we will continue to fight against such policies that treat New Yorkers like bottomless ATMs," she added.
In response to Duffy's letter, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chair and CEO Janno Lieber announced that the MTA filed papers in federal court Wednesday "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," Lieber said.
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Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association President Todd Spencer said "the thousands of small business truckers who operate in New York City welcome USDOT's decision to rescind tolling authority for New York 's congestion pricing plan."
"Truckers often have very little control over their schedules, so this congestion pricing plan is particularly problematic for owner-operators and independent drivers," Spencer told Fox News Digital. "We routinely have no other choice than to drive through metropolitan areas during periods of high congestion because of the rigidity of current federal hours of service requirements."
He said "shippers and receivers generally have little regard for a driver's schedule, frequently requiring loading and unloading to occur at times when nearby roads are most congested," adding that "New York City's congestion pricing plan was anti-trucker to begin with and we will continue fighting to ensure it doesn't come back."
"Beyond New York City, we encourage the Trump Administration and Congress to fight the expansion of tolling across the country," Spencer said.Original article source: Trump admin moves to block NYC congestion toll program