What to KnowThe U.S. Division of Transportation introduced on Wednesday it’s withdrawing its help for New York Metropolis’s first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan, opening a brand new chapter within the controversial program’s historical past. Whereas the division supplied the authorization for the pilot program, congestion pricing is operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.An finish to congestion pricing may result in the delay or finish of a number of infrastructure initiatives introduced by the MTA that depend on funding from the $9 peak-hour toll to enter Manhattan.
The U.S. Division of Transportation introduced on Wednesday it’s withdrawing its help for New York Metropolis’s first-in-the-nation congestion pricing plan, opening a brand new chapter within the controversial program’s historical past.
The division launched a letter from Secretary Sean Duffy it stated it despatched to Gov. Kathy Hochul concerning its resolution to “terminate” approval of the congestion pricing program, which it had initially granted on Nov. 21 below the Biden administration.
The president posted on Reality Social, in the meantime, that this system was halted, including “LONG LIVE THE KING” who “saved” New York. So what is the case?
Can the DOT terminate congestion pricing unilaterally?
The Division of Transportation’s letter signifies that they have been withdrawing help for the tolling plan however didn’t specify a date by which it will “terminate” the pilot program. Whereas the division supplied the authorization for the pilot program, congestion pricing is operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
In an announcement, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber stated the company filed “papers” in federal court docket to make sure the plan will stay in place.
“It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review – and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program – USDOT would seek to totally reverse course.,” the chairman added.
NYC Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander stated his workplace was exploring “all available options” to reverse the Trump administration’s resolution to cease congestion pricing.
What initiatives may very well be affected by an finish to congestion pricing?
On Jan. 10, days after the controversial program began, the MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber introduced the acquisition of 265 electrical buses as the primary mission “unlocked” by congestion pricing. The busses have been bought throughout the first week and are anticipated to be in circulation throughout town later this yr.
When the mission was “paused” final summer season, NBC New York reported on that the pause would affect initiatives so as to add elevators and ramps for a minimum of 18 subway stations and upgrading alerts for C & F traces in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Within the letter, Duffy acknowledges that an finish to congestion pricing “may deprive the transit agency of funding, but any reliance on that funding stream was not reasonable given that FHWA approved only a ‘pilot project.'”
