Trump administration terminates approval for New York City congestion pricing
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 fight back and take the decision to federal court to ensure the plan will continue.
Launched on Jan. 5, the city's system uses license plate readers to impose a $9 toll on most vehicles entering Manhattan neighborhoods south of Central Park. In its early days, transit officials said the toll has brought modest but measurable traffic reductions.
The federal government has rescinded its approval of the program, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced Wednesday, calling the toll's financial burden "a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners."
Duffy said his agency will work with the state on an "orderly termination of the tolls."
In a fiery press conference, Hochul promised a fight for New York's state sovereignty saying the MTA filed a lawsuit within minutes of getting a letter from Trump's transportation secretary.
"Within seconds of us getting this notification, our MTA was prepared, we filed a lawsuit within minutes," Hochul said. "Very confident we'll be successful and I also want to say the cameras are staying on. We are keeping the cameras on."
MTA Chair Janno Lieber echoed Hochul's stance, highlighting the program's early success.
"Traffic was down 9% in January, with 1.2 million fewer vehicles entering the central business district," he said. "Bus speeds are up, crashes are down, and pedestrian traffic in business areas has surged. This is working."
The MTA says opponents can't argue with the early data showing it's helping the city's economy.
"There are fewer cars but there are more people coming to the central business district. That's what you want," Lieber said.
Lieber also pushed back on claims that congestion pricing would hurt businesses. "Restaurant reservations are up 7%, Broadway grosses are up 25%, and commercial office leasing jumped 61% in January compared to last year," he said. "People want to be in New York."
Lieber points to a poll showing 6 out of 10 New Yorkers think the president should allow the city and state to keep congestion pricing.
But the president, whose namesake Trump Tower penthouse and other properties are within the congestion zone, vowed to kill the plan as soon as he took office. The Republican declared victory on his social networking site Truth Social after the Transportation Department announcement.
"CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED." Trump wrote, adding, "LONG LIVE THE KING!" The White House later posted an image of Trump wearing a crown in front of the New York skyline.
Hochul was quick to fire back.
Holding up the fake Time magazine cover the governor said if Trump had his way drivers would be stuck in traffic or waiting longer for a train, but that he won't get his way.
"New York hasn't labored under a king in over 250 years," she said at a news conference at Grand Central Terminal, one of the city's train hubs. "We sure as hell are not going to start now."
Mixed reactions to move to halt congestion pricing
City Comptroller Brad Lander said that congestion pricing had been working.
"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," he said.
"We must not let Trump drag us back to crappier subway service, standstill traffic, and smoggier air," Lander added. "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."
Opponents like Staten Island congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis had claimed not enough of the environmental impact was studied.
"The president has made his decision here. The secretary of transportation has rescinded the approval from the Biden administration, and therefore these cameras are operating illegally as far as I'm concerned," Malliotakis said.
But secretary Sean Duffy's letter makes no mention of that, giving two reasons the federal highway administration will no longer support it- that tolls on federally funded roads are meant to raise money for roads, not transit. And that the physical scope of it is unprecedented.
Manhattan Congressman Jerry Nadler, who serves on the house transportation committee says the law that allowed the Biden administration's DOT to approve it hasn't changed.
"It's exactly the same section of law that justifies the New Jersey turnpike toll. Or any other toll on a highway that we have. It's been upheld many times. And Secretary Duffy is just being a demagogue in writing that letter and saying there's something illegal about this," Nadler said.
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 toll survived several lawsuits trying to halt it before its launch. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of neighboring New Jersey fought it in court and wrote a letter to Trump on Inauguration Day imploring him to kill the program.
Hochul also had misgivings. Last June, she abruptly halted the tolling system's planned launch, citing concerns about its impact on the local economy. The Democrat then revived the toll in November following Trump's election, but reduced the toll for passenger vehicles from $15 to $9.
Since then, she has lauded it as a win for the city and discussed the issue multiple times with the president.
New York City's embattled Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, was once a supporter of congestion pricing but has more recently punted on the subject, appearing unwilling to wade into a brewing fight between Trump and the state.
(The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.)
----------
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
