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In a letter sent to Governor Kathy Hochul, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained that the federal government is reversing its previous approval of the initiative, which was granted on Nov. 21 under the Biden administration. Duffy cited concerns that the program does not align with the federal Value Pricing Pilot Program, arguing that it is “driven primarily by the need to raise revenue for the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) system as opposed to the need to reduce congestion.”

With the federal government stepping back, the future of the congestion pricing plan remains uncertain. The MTA, however, is not backing down. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber vowed to challenge the decision in federal court, emphasizing that congestion pricing has already demonstrated success in reducing traffic and improving travel times for buses and emergency vehicles.

“Today, 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,” Lieber said in a statement.

Despite the USDOT’s announcement, Lieber made it clear that the MTA has no immediate plans to halt the tolling system. “We’re not turning off the tolls,” he asserted during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

The congestion pricing plan, which was set to take effect soon, would charge drivers entering Manhattan’s Central Business District in an effort to reduce traffic and generate funding for public transit improvements. The sudden reversal by the federal government now throws the program’s implementation into legal and political uncertainty.

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