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Trump pulls back congestion pricing

MTA files lawsuit to keep the program going

By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The U.S. Department of Transportation said it has terminated the approval of congestion pricing in Manhattan on Wednesday [02/19/2025] and that this "reflectivity ends" the controversial tolling program, according to a press release announcing the decision.
..... But ending the program may not be so simple.
..... Janno Lieber, the CEO and president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the agency has already field documents in feral court to allow the tolling program to continue.
..... "Today, [02/19/2025] the MTA filed papers in federal court to ensure that the highly successful program - which has already dramatically reduced traffic and faster travel times, while increasing speeds for buses and emergency vehicles - will continue,: Lieber said in a statement.
..... "It's mystifying that after four years and 4,000 ages of federally-supervised environmental review - and barely thee months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program - USDOT would seek to totally reverse course," Lieber added.
..... In a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, newly installed U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there were two main reasons for rescinding the approval - just weeks after congestion pricing began once the Biden administration and a federal judge issued a green light.
..... Duffy called the program "unprecedented" by providing no toll-free option int a major urbanized area, and said the tool rate was primarily set to raise revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, rather than the amount needed dot reduce congestion.
..... "I have concluded that the scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by Congress under [the Value Pricing Pilot Program]," said Duffy, who was appointed by President Donald Trump.
..... Trump vowed to end the program when taking office in January. [2025]

What is congestion pricing?

..... The program - which is the first congestion pricing program in the country but is modeled after similar programs in Sweden, United Kingdom and Singapore - began charging drivers a toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street on Janaya 5, [2025] except those in vehicles traveling on perimeter highways, such as the FDR Drive and the West Side Highway.
..... In the less than two months since the program began, congestion has already plummeted in Manhattan, according to early data figures form the Metropolitan Transpiration Authority.
..... Trump's pause to the program upends years of work spent to figure out how to reduce traffic in the most congested region in the country. In 2019, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature passed and signed legislation mandating the creation of a congestion pricing program that wouldraise $15 billion for the MTA's mass transit capitol plan, improve air quality and reduce traffic.
..... Since then, the MTA has spent years overcoming roadblocks to get the program up and running, including a lengthy federal environmental review process.
..... It also appointed a broad to determine how the program would work, litigated multiple lawsuits attempting to end it, and restarted the program after Hochul paused its implementation last summer [2024] amid contentious elections.

New Jersey filed suit

..... The most high-profile attempt to end the program was a lawsuit filed by Governor Phil Murphy's administration, which accused the federal Highway Administration and the MTA of approving a program that Murphy's lawyers said required a mere thought environmental review."
..... A federal judge has largely sided with the FHWA and the MTA, allowing the program to being January 5 [2025] while details of how to mitigate potential environmental impacts in New Jersey are debated.
..... After that decision and since Trump was inaugurated, Murphy has sought the president's assistance to end the program. MTA officials have warned that rescinding approval will throw it into another legal gray area, since it was already approved through the normal federal review process for the value Pricing Pilot Program, which is also used for toll programs in other states, including Virginia, Texas and Florida.

Swift reaction from both sides

..... Cheers and boos erupted in the hours after Wednesday's [02/19/2025] announcement.
..... Michele Siekerka, president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, applauded the decision from the Trump's administration.
..... "From the first day this misguided policy was floated, it smacked of something that was bad for New Jersey commuters and visitors into New York and a money grab for the city," Siekerkoa said in a statement.
...... "Unfair polices that serve as only a detriment to New Jersey drives with no positive upside for our great state should have no place in any regional transportation policy and we're happy with USDOT's action today," [02/19/2025] she said.
..... Justin Balik, senior states program director for the environmental nonprofit Evergreen Action, said the program is working as intended and questioned the ability to end it.
..... "The Value Pricing Pilot Program is a well-established framework to allow states and localities to deploy innovative approaches to tolling policy utilized by red and blue states alike, and there's no valid bases for terminating the agreement," Balik said in a statement. "This program is working, and this baseless attack has no justification.

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