New York governor Kathy Hochul (D.) on Wednesday moved to sue the Trump administration after it terminated New York City's congestion pricing program.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a letter earlier Wednesday informed Hochul that the department is revoking the November 21 agreement, which imposed a $9 toll on most drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street at peak hours. The congestion pricing, which took effect in January, drew widespread backlash and made New York the most expensive American city to drive in, the New York Post reported.
Hochul, however, said the pricing was necessary. "We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king," she wrote in a statement. "The [Metropolitan Transportation Authority] has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We'll see you in court."
Duffy in a statement called the city's congestion pricing plan, which former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg approved under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP), "backwards and unfair" and "a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners." The plan, Duffy said, "leaves drivers without any free highway alternative" and "takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways."
"Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn't be reserved for an elite few," Duffy said, arguing that commuters have already financed city roadways through their taxes.
The tolling system, the Transportation Department said in a press release, "runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP, which is to impose tolls for congestion reduction—not transit revenue generation." The surcharge also violates the federal highway aid program, which prohibits charging tolls on federally funded roads unless Congress grants an exception, the press release said.
Duffy's letter said that officials will contact the state to "discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations," though it remains unclear when collection will officially stop.