Trump Administration Orders Halt to NYC Congestion Pricing
Truckers, NJ Gov Hail Duffy’s Action; NY Threatens Lawsuit
Signs, including some advising drivers of congestion pricing tolls, are displayed near the exit of the Lincoln Tunnel in New York. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)
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The Department of Transportation has rescinded federal approval of a controversial congestion tolling program for vehicles traveling through Manhattan, calling the experiment “a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.”
“Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy declared in a five-page Feb. 19 letter sent to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “The toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways. It’s backwards and unfair.”
The move, Duffy added, “effectively ends tolling authority for New York City’s cordon pricing plan,” which imposed tolls on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street.
Officially, the action terminates an approval granted in November by the Federal Highway Administration for the pilot project. Duffy echoed President Donald Trump’s view that the congestion tolling project placed significant financial burdens on city residents, businesses and commuters from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Du…
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