OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:45 PM – Wednesday, February 19, 2025
The Trump administration announced that it is terminating New York City’s congestion pricing plan, calling it a “slap in the face to working-class Americans.”
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The controversial program began in January, and it charging drivers a $9 fee to enter Manhattan, below 60th Street.
New York officials have previously argued that the toll was put in place in order to decrease the amount of congestion that the Big Apple faces on a daily basis.
“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated.
“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. But now 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,” Duffy continued.
“The program also hurts small businesses in New York that rely on customers from New Jersey and Connecticut. Finally, it impedes the flow of commerce into New York by increasing costs for trucks, which in turn could make goods more expensive for consumers. Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn’t be reserved for an elite few.”
The Department of Transportation (DOT) maintained that the toll conflicts with the federal highway aid program, which generally prohibits tolls on federally-funded roads — unless Congress grants a specific exception.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber responded on Tuesday, stating that “the MTA filed papers in federal court to ensure that the highly successful program – which has already dramatically reduced congestion, bringing reduced traffic and faster travel times, while increasing speeds for buses and emergency vehicles – will continue notwithstanding this baseless effort to snatch those benefits away from the millions of mass transit users, pedestrians and, especially, the drivers who come to the Manhattan Central Business District.”
The Riders Alliance responded as well, stating that it will continue its ongoing fight to keep the congestion pricing in place.
“Public transit riders won congestion relief and are now enjoying faster and more reliable bus service from throughout New York and New Jersey. We organized for a decade, held two governors accountable, and prevailed in court in three states after years of exhaustive environmental studies. We are committed to maintaining and expanding on our victory and will defend it with everything we have,” stated Riders Alliance Director Betsy Plum.
“It is raising money to create construction jobs, fixing the subway. It is backwards and unfair to go back into the past to a gridlocked New York,” added Riders Alliance Director of Policy and Communications Danny Pearlstein. “We’ve won in court in New York, New Jersey, in Pennsylvania already defending congestion pricing. We are no stranger to litigation. We’ll be back, and we expect to have the governor of New York and the MTA right alongside us.”
The Trump administration stated on Wednesday that it is withdrawing its approval of the toll, calling it “backwards and unfair,” dealing a serious blow to Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.) and killing New York City’s wildly unpopular congestion pricing program.
In a letter to Hochul on Wednesday afternoon, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation has revoked the program’s approval.
Hochul is expected to meet with President Trump in the next few days during the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C.
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