Gov. Kathy Hochul said congestion is staying even as President Donald Trump’s administration has announced a deadline for congestion pricing, per a federal letter sent on Feb. 20.
Federal Highway Administration (FHA) Executive Director Gloria Shepherd wrote in a letter to New York state and city officials, including the NYS Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) as well as the state-run MTA, that the toll program must end on March 21.
“Accordingly, NYSDOT and its project sponsors must cease the collection of tolls on federal-aid highways in the CBDTP area by March 21, 2025,” the letter states. “Please work with Rick Marquis, the FHWA’s New York Division Administrator, to provide the necessary details and updates regarding the cessation of toll operations.”
Shepherd’s letter came just one day after U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Sean Duffy’s Feb. 19 letter ordering the stop of congestion pricing. It also came after Hochul and the MTA filed a lawsuit in federal court opposing Trump’s orders on the same day as Duffy’s letter.
The Trump administration rescinded Biden-era support of the program. While Duffy’s letter did not include a time limit for congestion pricing, he has said the program is a “slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners.”
He also said the program supports the transit system, not highways.
“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,” Duffy said. “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.”
Meanwhile, Hochul, who did not mention the federal government’s second letter with the end date during her attendance at an MTA board meeting on Feb. 26, has vowed to “keep fighting” for New Yorkers in court as congestion pricing remains in operation.
“Secretary Duffy can send as many letters as he’d like, but the cameras are staying on,” said Avi Small, the governor’s press secretary. “The MTA has already filed a lawsuit and we expect to be victorious.”
Hochul went even further during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” accusing the Trump administration of acting hypocritically on the individual rights of states, tying the congestion pricing issue with the administration’s stance on women’s reproductive rights.
“The Trump Administration has said that it should be up to the states to decide whether women can control their own bodies, right? States should decide whether they should control their own bodies, but they’re telling me as a state that I can’t control my own traffic?” Hochul said. “That I have to go to them for approval to control traffic in New York City and deal with a paralyzing congestion problem that — after decades of people talking about it — we finally got it done. And guess what? It is working.”
In agreement with Hochul, the MTA will double down on the agency’s fight against the federal order. During its early run, the order has shown signs of working, including less traffic and more public transit ridership.
“Our position is clear: this is not a lawful order,” said John McCarthy, MTA chief of policy and external relations. “We have already filed a lawsuit, and now it’s up to the courts to decide.”
Hochul’s Washington visit about congestion pricing
During the MTA board meeting, Hochul discussed her recent trip to the White House, where she presented documents on the benefits of congestion pricing to President Trump, including more commercial buildings, speedier traffic and fewer clogged streets.
Even with a Trump-set end date in mind, the governor reminded board members that the future of congestion pricing is in the hands of the court.
“We’re not done. We’re in court,” she said. “We’ll continue to stand up for New Yorkers, reducing traffic. Air quality is going to continue improving.”
Since its launch on Jan. 5, the MTA and many New Yorkers who drive and use public transit have noticed improvements on city streets.
Though traffic has been slowly increasing into Manhattan, which is normal for this time of year, the city reported a 7.5% reduction in traffic within the Congestion Relief Zone (CRZ), the area where vehicles are charged a base toll of $9 when entering the borough south of and including 60th Street.
The MTA also reported garnering $48.6 million in revenue during congestion’s pricing first month in operation, which is in line with the agency’s budget projections of raising around $500 million this year.
Still, congestion pricing remains a topic that divides New Yorkers. Although many politicians, drivers and public transit users see the program as a benefit for the city, others agree with the Trump administration that it is an unfair burden placed on people during a time of economic crisis.
“Although it was disguised as a way to reduce traffic, this was a way to squeeze more money out of the pockets of taxpayers,” state Assembly Member Michael Tannousis of Staten Island-Brooklyn said. “We need real solutions, not another toll or tax in disguise.”
Some NYC yellow cab drivers have also expressed frustration with having to add a 75-cent surcharge to their riders’ fare, while others have said customers will pay the extra money to get around the city’s high-demand CRZ.
