NEW Y0RK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York asked a judge to stop the Trump administration from withholding federal approvals or funds in the president’s push to end Manhattan’s congestion pricing program.
The request, filed Monday, comes after the state said it had reached an “impasse” in its dispute with the federal government over the $9 toll most drivers pay to enter the borough’s busiest streets. US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy has threatened to hold back approvals on transportation projects or potentially deny funds unless the tolling ends by May 21.
The program has operated under a cloud of uncertainty since it began four months ago, as President Donald Trump tries to end it. The state’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority sued Duffy after he announced in a Feb. 19 letter that he was reversing US approval the plan won under former President Joe Biden, even though the tolling had started on Jan. 5. The suit seeks a court declaration that the attempt to halt the program is illegal.
Standoff
New York maintains it won’t stop the tolls unless the court tells it to. Now the MTA, the program’s operator, is seeking a court order to block the US Department of Transportation from carrying out Duffy’s threats while the state’s lawsuit against the administration proceeds.
“The administration has now resorted to what seems to be its modus operandi: attempting to improperly leverage federal funding in order to coerce compliance with its wishes, rather than defend the legality of its propositions in court,” lawyers for the MTA wrote.
The MTA, which runs New York City’s subways, buses and commuter rail lines, is counting on the congestion toll to help modernize a more than 100-year-old system. The toll is expected to fund $15 billion of projects through a bond issue, including upgrading train signals, extending the Second Avenue subway to Harlem and making more stations accessible.
Other MTA projects are at risk as well if DOT withholds approval or funding of construction projects. The transit provider is embarking on a $68.4 billion multi-year capital budget that includes an anticipated $14 billion of federal money. That spending plan is to repair Grand Central Terminal’s crumbling train shed, purchase thousands of rail cars and renovate power substations to prevent outages.
New Jersey’s Lawsuit
Congestion pricing is also meant to reduce traffic and improve air quality in the tolling zone, from 60th Street down to the island’s southern tip. New York has faced lawsuits including one by neighboring New Jersey, which claims the program will just displace congestion and pollution from Manhattan to its own turf. The challenges failed to stop the plan’s Jan. 5 launch.
Trump has said the congestion pricing plan will hurt the local economy, and Duffy in February called it “a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.” Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul says the tolling plan was urgently needed and is working.
MTA data show that about 7.5 million fewer vehicles entered the tolled zone this year, with decreases of 8% in January, 12% in February and 13% in March. At the same time, the toll raised $159 million in the first quarter, with monthly revenue on track to support the planned bond issue.
The MTA has asked US District Judge Lewis Liman to rule on its request for the court order by May 28, when Duffy has said DOT would begin taking measures. Liman gave the Trump administration until May 16 to respond and scheduled a hearing for May 27 if he decides it’s necessary.
The case is Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Duffy, 25-cv-1413, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
— With assistance from Malathi Nayak and Robert Burnson