By Hank Russell
Moments after President Donald J. Trump announced the congestion pricing program is over, Janno Lieber, chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), has filed a lawsuit to keep the program going.
On February 19, the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy sent a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul that the agency is putting a stop to the pilot program, formally known as the Central Business District Tolling Program, in which certain vehicles are charged tolls upon entry into Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours.
“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” Duffy said. “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.”
Not only is the program “backwards and unfair,” Duffy stated, “[t]he 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 [every] 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.”
Trump posted on his Truth Social account, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”
Calling the USDOT’S sudden decision “mystifying,” Lieber 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.”
Hochul supported Lieber, stating, “Public transit is the lifeblood of New York City and critical to our economic future — as a New Yorker, like President Trump, knows very well.”
She also touted the results of the congestion pricing program. “Since this first-in-the-nation program took effect last month, congestion has dropped dramatically and commuters are getting to work faster than ever,” she said. “Broadway shows are selling out and foot traffic to local businesses is spiking. School buses are getting kids to class on time, and yellow cab trips increased by 10 percent. Transit ridership is up, drivers are having a better experience, and support for this program is growing every day.”
Local GOP officials disagreed with Hochul and Lieber’s assessments. Assemblyman Daniel Norber (R,C-Great Neck) called the program “flawed from the start” and “a narrow-minded solution to a cultural problem of spending and taxing.” It was a “scheme [that] was nothing more than an unfair tax on hardworking New Yorkers and commuters who do not have viable transit alternatives. … Instead of burdening drivers with higher costs, we should be focusing on fixing our roads, improving public transportation and making New York more affordable for everyone.”
U.S. Representative Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point), who introduced a resolution expressing opposition to the program, called congestion pricing “a blatant scheme to fund Governor Hochul’s inflated MTA budget at the expense of Long Island’s working families and small businesses. It unfairly targeted our residents who depend on their vehicles for livelihood. It’s the government’s duty to foster policies that bolster—rather than burden—our community’s economic well-being.”
Assemblyman Ed Ra called for an “honest conversation about the MTA” and look into “its long history of waste, fraud and mismanagement. New Yorkers are fed up with scandals, incessantly increasing costs and an agency that constantly demands more money while failing to fix its problems. The rescission of congestion pricing is a victory for New Yorkers.”