New York State and federal officials have agreed to a timeline after which the controversial congestion pricing program will end sometime in the fall.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy isn’t giving up on ending the program sooner. He may try to yank funding from some mass transit programs to force Governor Kathy Hochul to bend to his will.
Hochul and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) claim they need $15 billion, or the subway and bus system will fall apart. It’s probably true. Mass transit in New York City was a marvel of city planning until politicians at the state and local levels started finding other things to spend transit funds on rather than maintenance.
The congestion pricing scheme seemed the perfect solution. As long as the sheeple didn’t rise up and complain too loudly, the politicians thought it was safe. The city government tried the scheme in London with some success, so why not try it in New York City?
It’s the easy way out for politicians who have screwed around with funds for mass transit for several decades. Now it’s time to pay the piper, and the Trump administration is pushing back. They want New York to play the right way and either get the money from other sources or raise taxes.
Duffy wants the toll to end by April 20.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the program, declined to comment on the letter that detailed the agreement. The document was filed on Friday in federal court in Manhattan as part of a lawsuit by the M.T.A. against the Department of Transportation over the government’s efforts to kill the toll. The letter said that the authority and federal officials would abide by a timeline that would not resolve the dispute until at least late July. It also noted that the federal government does not currently plan to seek an injunction, which could have potentially halted the program in the meantime.
The Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The agreement signals another temporary reprieve for the M.T.A. and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has vowed to keep the tolling cameras on. Congestion pricing, which charges most drivers $9 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak traffic times, began in January, with the goals of reducing traffic and raising $15 billion for critical mass-transit upgrades in the region.
Advocates of congestion pricing are swooning over the initial results after two months.
“This is huge,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a supporter of the toll. “The longer this thing stays in effect, the happier people are going to be with it,” he added,
“Happier”? I’ve never heard of anyone in world history who was “happy” about paying for the privilege to drive on a road that taxpayers already paid for.
Other challenges to congestion pricing are on the horizon.
Jack Lester, a lawyer representing a group of residents and businesses that oppose congestion pricing, said that other parties, including his clients, could seek an injunction sometime in late May, when the federal government will be required to respond to the M.T.A.’s complaint. There are several other lawsuits in which a range of plaintiffs, including truck drivers and a teachers’ union, are seeking to end the toll. Judge Liman, who presided over a number of the suits, has already dismissed key arguments in those cases, which allowed the program to proceed.
But the judge also said that the fate of congestion pricing should be decided in the courts, not through the political maneuvers that the Trump administration seems to be suggesting.
“They’re talking about strong-arm tactics, withholding federal funding,” he said. “It could be that litigation is only secondary in their strategy.”
Not very bright, is he? Of course, the Trump administration, the democratically elected Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance would prefer that the courts not settle this case. It’s their constitutional job to represent all the people, not just some elitist New Yorkers who don’t want to pony up to pay for the subway that none of them ride.
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