NJ lawmakers say they are continuing fight against congestion pricing in NYC
FORT LEE, New Jersey (WABC) -- Congestion pricing is set to begin in New York City on Sunday, but New Jersey lawmakers aren't giving up in their fight to stop it.
Congressman Josh Gottheimer stood with local representatives and community members in Fort Lee, New Jersey on Thursday to call on a judge to put the brakes on the plan.
"New York's plan to fix congestion is to give more of it to children in Jersey, by sending more smog into our homes and neighborhoods," Gottheimer said. "This new Lung Tax will cost Jersey children and families more money to breathe worse air, punishing our lungs and wallets at the same time."
The MTA fired back in response to the rally in Fort Lee.
"Nobody in their right mind should take transportation advice from the New Jersey politicians who have woefully failed to manage transit in their state-while also endorsing higher tolls on their own roads and on Port Authority bridges and tunnels, and higher fares on NJ Transit," said MTA Chief of Policy and External Relations John McCarthy in a statement. "Endless litigation over New York's program to improve its transit and reduce traffic is the height of hypocrisy."
A Gottheimer spokesperson then released a response to the MTA, saying "Nobody in their right minds should take transportation advice from the MTA bureaucrats who have wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on waste, mismanagement, fraud, and incompetence."
The judge ruled that the Federal Highway Administration must provide more detail on the environmental impacts of the tolling plan.
The judge noted the Bronx is getting tens of millions of dollars to clean the air from an expected increase in truck traffic over the George Washington Bridge -- $15 million to replace diesel-powered transport refrigeration units at the Hunts Point Produce Market, $20 million to fund an asthma care center and $10 million to add air filtration systems to schools near highways.
But no such specifics exist on how to address expected pollution in impacted North Jersey communities, like in Bergen County -where an MTA environmental assessment showed that traffic increases would be greater.
"They were able to set with precision monetary amounts dedicated to relief in New York while providing no minimum amounts for mitigation for potentially impacted areas in New Jersey," the judge wrote.
"The court must conclude that the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) and Project Sponsors acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in reaching their mitigation determination in the Final EA," he concluded.
Gordon gave the Federal Highway Administration until Jan. 17 to further detail the mitigation money going to places like Bergen County, so he can determine if it is being distributed fairly.
But MTA lawyers said since there is nothing in the ruling that specifically blocks congestion pricing starting, and they will proceed early Sunday morning.
Columbia Law School professor Michael Gerrard, who supports congestion pricing, told Eyewitness News that he believes that since Judge Gordon did not specifically prohibit the program from starting, the MTA can proceed. He believes that if the judge wanted to put the brakes on the program, he would have done so in his 72-page ruling issued earlier this week.
He does not believe the problems identified by Judge Gordon warrant holding up the program.
"They are very minor and the benefits of congestion pricing to air quality, to travel times, to congestion, to MTA financing are so large that they warrant going forward right away," Gerrard said.
Thursday's press conference comes as lawyers for New Jersey also filed for a temporary restraining order to stop the plan from going into effect.
Any delay could give its opponents an opportunity to stop congestion pricing for good. President-elect Trump has already said he opposes the plan and would end it when he takes office. Supporters are attempting to turn the license plate readers on and start collecting revenue before Jan. 20.
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