A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to force New York City to end its congestion pricing program.
Judge Lewis Liman granted a temporary restraining order on Tuesday barring the Trump administration from withholding “federal funds, approvals, or authorizations from New York State or local agencies to enforce compliance” with its demands to terminate the tolling program. The order is in effect until June 9.
The development comes after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates the toll program, sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the federal government from withholding approvals or funds for continuing to collect tolls after the U.S. Department of Transportation reversed course and pulled federal approval of the congestion pricing program earlier year.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul lauded the judge’s order as a “win” for New York in the battle over congestion pricing, saying it blocks the Trump administration from “retaliating against New York” for continuing the program, which is the first of its kind in the nation.
“Judge Liman’s temporary restraining order is a massive victory for New York commuters, vindicating our right as a State to make decisions regarding what’s best for our streets,” Hochul said in a statement Tuesday. “New Yorkers deserve to control our own traffic patterns, keep gridlock off our streets and protect our clean air. We need to make the massive investments necessary to support our transit system and prevent it from falling into disarray and disrepair. Congestion pricing is the right solution to get us there.”
“Congestion pricing is legal, it’s working and we’re keeping the cameras on,” she added.
The Department of Transportation pulled federal approval of the congestion pricing program on Feb. 19, weeks after it went into effect, following a review requested by President Donald Trump. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the time that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress” under the Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program while calling it “backwards and unfair.”
The MTA immediately challenged the Trump administration’s reversal in federal court, seeking a declaratory judgment that the DOT’s move is not proper. Hochul and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber have said they will not turn off the tolls without a court order.
Duffy extended a deadline for New York to end the collection of the toll multiple times, most recently warning last month that the Federal Highway Administration would take actions to “remedy New York’s noncompliance,” such as withholding approvals or funds for other transportation projects,” starting on May 28 if it didn’t cease congestion pricing.
Duffy has not publicly commented on the judge’s order Tuesday.
In a response to the MTA’s motion seeking a preliminary injunction, Duffy’s counsel argued the request should be denied because New York cannot show irreparable harm “because of the premature nature of this entire dispute” over the proposed compliance measures. “Critically, FHWA has not decided to impose any of these ‘proposed’ or ‘potential’ compliance measures yet,” they wrote.
The congestion pricing plan, which launched on Jan. 5, charges passenger vehicles $9 to access Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours as part of an effort to ease congestion and raise funds for the city’s public transit system. During peak hours, small trucks and charter buses are charged $14.40 and large trucks and tour buses pay $21.60.
The toll generated nearly $50 million in revenue in its first month and is on track to generate $500 million in net revenue by the end of this year, as initially projected, the MTA said.
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