NYC drivers will be exempt from an additional 25% congestion charge

As drivers await a judge’s decision on a congestion pricing lawsuit that could halt New York’s plan to charge $9 to enter ManhattanNew York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would scrap a proposal to charge drivers an even higher fee during the city’s gridlock alert days.

Hochul said Thursday that he ordered the MTA not to charge a 25 percent higher toll during the city’s 20-day congestion alert.

“I have spoken with the MTA and made it clear: Under no circumstances will I allow this discretionary 25 percent surcharge to be used on gridlock days,” she said in a statement reported by WABC-TV.

Congestion pricing, scheduled to begin on January 5, is intended to reduce traffic, accidents and air pollution. It would raise $1 billion annually for subway, bus and commuter rail projects by charging a toll to enter Manhattan’s central business district south of 60th Street. It would be the first program of its kind in the nation.

Under the congestion charge pricing policies adopted in November, the MTA had the option to charge a 25% higher congestion charge during 20 days of congestion alert during the United Nations General Assembly and the season holidays, when heavy traffic is expected in Manhattan.

The deal left intact a fare plan that allows the MTA to phase in fare increases, which would mean the $9 fee would rise in 2028 to $12 for non-commercial passenger vehicles and to $15 in 2031.

Hochul’s decision was welcomed by congestion pricing opponent U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist.

“New York thought it could sneak in another way to hit working families with the congestion tax, but it got caught with its hand in the tax jar again,” said Gottheimer, who is running for governor in New York. Jersey. “It’s time for the MTA to stop treating Jersey and New York drivers like their personal piggy bank.”

Congestion pricing is scheduled to begin Jan. 5 pending a decision on New Jersey’s lawsuit seeking to overturn a June 2023 Federal Highway Administration decision that allowed it to proceed. It is the last process that could block the plan.

Judge Leo M. Gordon of the US Court of International Trade heard arguments in the case in April and has yet to issue an opinion on the case based on two days of arguments in court in Newark.

Gordon encouraged New Jersey and New York reach a settlement of the trial which argues that a more stringent environmental impact study should have been conducted by the MTA.

New Jersey and Fort Lee argued last April in U.S. Federal Court that the MTA’s environmental assessment did not provide any mitigation for the effects of added pollution in Bergen County from traffic bypassing the George Washington Bridge to avoid the District’s congestion zone central business in Manhattan.

While media reports have cited offers of money from New York to mitigate the effects of air pollution and funding for cash-strapped NJ Transit, Gov. Phil Murphy has not said whether New Jersey is negotiating to end the process. Hochul said only that “multiple offers” have been made to settle the lawsuit.

Pending a court ruling, the final wild card for congestion pricing is what President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will do once he’s in office. Trump opposes congestion pricing and said on social media that he would “end” it in his first week in office.