President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday ordered a halt to New York Metropolis’s congestion pricing system, which thins site visitors and funds mass transit by imposing excessive tolls on drivers coming into some elements of Manhattan.
Launched on Jan. 5, the town’s system makes use of license plate readers to impose a $9 toll on most autos coming into Manhattan neighborhoods south of Central Park. In its early days, transit officers say the toll has introduced modest however measurable site visitors reductions.
In an announcement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy introduced the federal authorities has rescinded its approval of this system, calling it “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.”
Duffy mentioned his company will work with the state on an “orderly termination of the tolls.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has not responded to the letter from the Division of Transportation with a spokesperson earlier within the afternoon saying it had but to obtain the letter.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) mentioned it’s heading to courtroom over the DOT withdrawal of its congestion pricing approval.
“At the moment, the MTA filed papers in federal courtroom to make sure that the extremely profitable program – which has already dramatically diminished congestion, bringing diminished site visitors and quicker journey occasions, whereas rising speeds for buses and emergency autos – will proceed however this baseless effort to grab these advantages away from the tens of millions of mass transit customers, pedestrians and, particularly, the drivers who come to the Manhattan Central Enterprise District. It’s mystifying that after 4 years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental evaluate – and barely three months after giving last approval to the Congestion Reduction Program – USDOT would search to completely reverse course,” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber mentioned in an announcement.
Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower penthouse and different properties are inside the congestion zone, had vowed to kill the plan as quickly as he took workplace. He beforehand characterised it as a large, regressive tax, saying “it will be virtually impossible for New York City to come back as long as the congestion tax is in effect.”
Comparable tolling packages supposed to drive individuals onto public transit by making driving cost-prohibitive have lengthy existed in different international cities, together with London, Stockholm, Milan and Singapore, however the system had by no means earlier than been tried within the U.S.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, had fought the tolls and courtroom and wrote a letter Trump on Inauguration Day imploring him to kill this system.
Response to congestion pricing resolution by Trump administration
The Trump administration order set off a wave of response from congestion pricing supporters and critics.
Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella thanked the Trump administration for its resolution.
“It was always a three-strike loser and a nonstarter for Staten Island – more traffic, more air pollution and more tolls. The program was revived unceremoniously, at a politically opportune time for political reasons. To bring an end to the program is the right thing not just for Staten Island but for the City as a whole. The MTA should follow this action by turning off the toll readers and relieving Staten Island residents from this unnecessary and burdensome tax once and for all,” Fossella mentioned in an announcement.
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., mentioned the federal authorities’s rationale for rescinding its approval of congestion pricing as “utterly baseless and frankly, laughable” in an announcement.
“The arguments presented by the US DOT against congestion pricing are utterly baseless and frankly, laughable. Congestion pricing has not only consistently withstood significant legal challenges, emerging victorious in every court decision to date, but it has also become immensely popular among New Yorkers, delivering on its promises—less traffic, fewer crashes, and reduced noise pollution, all contributing to safer, quieter streets,” Nadler mentioned.
“Mr. President, we’ll see you in court,” the New York congressman mentioned.
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler referred to as the DOT’s resolution a “win” for New Yorkers.
“This can be a large win for New York households, commuters, and small companies ruthlessly focused by this unjust tax.” “Make no mistake: this entire program is nothing more than a scam — a money grab — and is the symptom of a far deeper, systemic issue in our state – government overreach and rampant mismanagement at the hands of Kathy Hochul and her cronies in Albany,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) mentioned in an announcement.
