The Trump Department of Transportation has revoked its approval of New York City’s “congestion pricing” toll, setting off a battle royale between the city and the federal government.
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Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul listing Trump’s oft-stated objections to the toll and informing her that federal officials would be in contact soon to “discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations.”
Congestion pricing is a scheme to avoid raising taxes to pay for improvements in New York City’s dilapidated mass transit system. Vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street must pay a $9 tax to drive on roads that they’ve already paid for.
There’s no precedent for the Feds to revoke approval for a project like this. Still, Duffy cites the cost to working-class New Yorkers, the use of the toll for mass transit rather than road repair, and the overreach of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) plan compared to the more modest plan approved during the Biden administration.
Hochul’s public response was typical of Democrats in the Age of Trump.
“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” she said in a written statement. “We’ll see you in court.”
Duffy’s order was not a decree but based on sound legal reasoning. There may not be a precedent, but New York’s arrogant, unilateral amendments to the original agreement will be closely examined by any judge worth his or her salt.
The program was “working” in that traffic was reduced and drive times shortened. But is that the ultimate gauge of whether a law is “working” or not? Just because the law is doing what politicians said it would do doesn’t make it fair or necessary. Mass transit funds would ordinarily be raised by issuing bonds or assigned from the general budget. The congestion tax is a subterfuge designed to get politicians off the hook from raising taxes to pay for repairs that should have been ongoing over the last 15 years.
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The New York Times donned its short skirt, tight-fitting sweater, and knee socks and picked up some pom-poms to cheerlead for gouging its readers $9 every time they want to see a show or go to a museum.
The plan aims to discourage drivers from entering the congestion zone. It also hopes to clear pollution from Manhattan’s core while helping to raise $15 billion for the M.T.A.
In other cities around the world, congestion pricing has cut traffic and vehicle emissions while encouraging the growth of alternative transportation modes, including buses and bike lanes. The tolls are typically unpopular at the onset before gradually winning over more public support.
Much of the funding is tied to critical transit repairs and upgrades. The projects include replacing subway signals that were installed during the Great Depression and making more stations accessible to riders with disabilities and parents with strollers.
“Demolishing congestion relief is one of the stupidest policy proposals we’ve seen,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group.
There are powerful politicians on the other side of the issue as well.
“The current congestion pricing scheme is a disaster for working- and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents who need or want to visit Lower Manhattan and now need to pay a big fee on top of the bridge and tunnel tolls they already pay,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) wrote in the letter to Trump on January 20.
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Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey pointed out that drivers looking to skirt the congestion zone would simply cross the George Washington Bridge north of the zone. This would lead to more pollution in his district.
“They never cared about how the tax would hurt Jersey families — they just needed the cash to pay for the M.T.A.’s woeful mismanagement,” Gottheimer said in a statement on Wednesday.
Gottheimer called the toll a “cash grab” for the MTA rather than any environmental relief plan. That’s a good way to sum it up.
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