The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration moved to end New York’s congestion pricing on Wednesday, just one month after the program had been rolled out.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy delivered the news in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, rescinding the approval of the program. The decision rolled back a previous agreement between Hochul and the agency for the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP) that charged drivers tolls for coming into Manhattan.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” The White House posted on X on Wednesday accompanied by an image of Trump wearing a crown on a fake TIME-inspired magazine cover.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) called the program “unprecedented” in scope and cited the lack of a toll-free option for drivers as the reason for its impending termination. Duffy also said that since the toll rate was chosen to increase revenue for transportation as opposed to reducing congestion, the “pilot runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy thanked President Trump and Secretary Duffy in a statement Wednesday, but Gov. Hochul indicated that legal action against the President is already in motion. “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” she said on X in response.
Here’s what to know.
When did NYC congestion pricing start?
The VPPP was first approved by lawmakers in 2019, but proponents had to wait for a federal environmental review. The program was later approved by the Biden Administration last year, on Nov. 21, but congestion pricing did not officially begin until Jan. 5.
The initial summer rollout of the program was paused in June due to concerns about the toll’s impact on the local economy. A revised version of congestion pricing lowered the toll from $15 to $9.
How is NYC congestion pricing funded?
Under congestion prices, drivers are charged $9 when they enter Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone, which falls below 60th Street, between 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. That means that drivers traveling through the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro bridges, and the Holland, Hugh L. Carey, and Queens Midtown tunnels, will have to pay the higher toll price.
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The Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday that it would work with the leaders behind the project to oversee an “orderly termination of the tolls,” though the timeline for that is unclear.
How has Hochul responded?
In response, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday to keep the program in place. “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,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber in a statement on X.
Hochul said the first-in-the nation program has already benefitted the city’s transportation system, pointing to faster commute times, greater “foot traffic” to local businesses, and an increase in yellow cab trips. Public transportation ridership has also increased, Hochul said in a statement on X.
“Congestion pricing is a meticulously studied, globally-proven program that is enshrined in New York State law,” said Julie Tighe, President of the NY League of Conservation Voters. “We need the federal government to be a partner in solving congestion pricing, not a roadblock. New Yorkers deserve relief from traffic, better transit, and cleaner air—we will keep fighting for it every day.”
Can Trump stop congestion pricing?
Congestion pricing has been subject to lawsuits before by neighboring New Jersey, which sought to stop the program because it placed an unfair burden on its residents. Murphy wrote to Trump—who had promised to end congestion pricing on the campaign trail—on his first day in office, asking the President to give congestion pricing the “close look it deserved.”
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But others have expressed skepticism at whether the President can actually stop congestion pricing. Congressman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, criticized the Department of Transportation, arguing that the agency bears no authority to pause the program. “The Value Pricing Program is solidly established under federal law, and its approval cannot be arbitrarily revoked, especially when it is clearly delivering tangible benefits,” Nadler said on X on Wednesday. “Mr. President, we’ll see you in court.”
The MTA called the Administration’s decision to terminate the program unlawful, arguing that the Trump Administration took action without an environmental review on the effects of pausing VPPP. “If FHWA had the right to unilaterally terminate a VPPP program that had already been approved and implemented, it would create uncertainty around the future of such programs any time leadership at FHWA, USDOT, or the White House changed—uncertainty that may make it difficult to issue bonds for other projects and would clearly undermine the purposes of the VPPP,” the legal complaint says.
The post What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing appeared first on TIME.
