NEW YORK — New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has blocked plans to begin congestion-pricing tolling for vehicles entering lower Manhattan, postponing indefinitely the start of a program opposed by commuters and other groups but blowing a hole in the financial plans of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Assessment of the tolls — which include a $15 fee for passenger vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street during peak periods — was slated to begin June 30, although the plan faced eight lawsuits from various opponents.
Hochul said in a statement today (Wednesday, June 6) that the plan “risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time. … I cannot add another burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers — or create another obstacle to continued recovery.” And so, she said, she was directing the MTA to “pause” the program indefinitely.
Hochel said her administration remains “fully committed” to already announced MTA infrastructure projects, ranging from track repairs and signal upgrades to extension of the Second Avenue Subway and the Interborough Express light rail line, but did not indicate how those projects would be paid for.
The MTA has previously said that an anticipated $15 billion from congestion pricing make up more than 50% of the funds in its capital program, and earlier this year outlined the projects relying on that money [see “MTA details projects at risk …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 27, 2024]. Funds raised by the toll were to be dedicated solely to MTA transit projects.
The MTA board must still vote to postpone the program, but the governor controls nominations for the 23-member board.
The MTA has not commented publicly on Hochul’s decision, which otherwise drew a wide range of reactions, according to a New York Times report. Many politicians welcomed the halt of an unpopular new fee, but environmental and economic groups expressed dismay, with a representative of one group, the Regional Plan Association, calling it “a total betrayal of New Yorkers and our climate.”
The Times also reports Hochul may look to make up for the loss of MTA funding with the use of money from state reserves in the short term and a new tax on city businesses in the long term. But a new tax would require legislative action, and the state legislature’s session ends this week.
The MTA has already spent more than $500 million on tolling equipment, which relies on E-ZPass transponders and billing by reading license plates. More on the planned tolling program is available here.
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