Dive Brief:
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who imposed an indefinite halt to the state’s congestion pricing plan for Manhattan in June, is considering reviving the program, with lower tolls and exemptions for city workers, following the Nov. 5 election, according to the New York Post.
- Hochul’s June 5 order stopped the planned implementation of the tolling program on June 30. The program would have charged most drivers $15 to enter Manhattan at or below 60th Street, which Hochul said in a video statement would “add another burden to working- and middle-class New Yorkers.”
- Many people believed the governor’s decision was driven by election politics: Republicans planned to use congestion pricing against some suburban Democrats who are facing tight U.S. House races.
Dive Insight:
The New York state legislature passed the congestion pricing plan in 2019 and was poised to be the first such program in the nation. London, Stockholm and Singapore previously implemented similar plans.
But the governor’s order to pause the tolling plan blew a $16.5 billion hole in the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital investment plan. At the MTA’s July 31 board meeting, the agency’s finance chiefs also said the loss of tolling revenue could impact the operating budget by more than $800 million, as putting off purchases of new buses and trains will result in higher maintenance costs to keep older equipment running. Labor costs and potential debt also factored into that figure, he said.
Following news that Hochul may bring back the program, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said during an Aug. 22 press conference, “I want to just acknowledge while we do have uncertainty related to the continuing pause, to me it’s good news that the governor continues to focus on these issues and express her intention to resolve them timely.”
The New York plan faced opposition from the state of New Jersey, which sued to stop the program. Additional lawsuits were filed by the United Federation of Teachers, the Staten Island borough president and other groups.
Advocates for congestion pricing, including the City Club of New York and a group comprising the Sierra Club, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance and Riders Alliance, sued the governor to reverse her decision to halt the program.
Some argue that Hochul does not have the authority to pause the congestion pricing plan. In a brief filed last week in support of the City Club of New York lawsuit, four former and current state legislators argued that in drafting the law that created the congestion pricing program, lawmakers deliberately made sure to exclude language that implied that the governor has the power to alter the MTA board’s decisions.
“The legislature endorsed the longstanding principle that the administration of New York City’s transit system should be controlled by a public authority that is insulated from partisan or personal loyalties to elected officials,” the legislators wrote.
“Congestion pricing should start now as the law requires,” said Danny Pearlstein, Riders Alliance policy and communications director, in an emailed statement. “The governor can study the impacts and shape the program once it's up and running.”
