The clock is ticking, but a federal judge in Manhattan said Friday he will rule soon on a motion to stop the state’s congestion pricing program before it goes into effect on Jan. 5.
Judge Lewis Liman told lawyers for the Trucking Association of New York — who, along with attorneys representing a consortium of Manhattan residents and the United Federation of Teachers and the Borough of Staten Island, have filed for an injunction to stop the controversial toll — that he is “aware of the time pressure” in the case.
The trucking association lawyers argued that the pricing plan overcharges trucks while undercharging taxis and other for-hire cars that make up the bulk of the traffic in Manhattan.
The plan in its current iteration will charge ordinary cars $9 once a day to enter the congestion pricing zone but will charge trucks between $14.40 and $21.60 each time they enter, depending on their size.
“We’re looking for pricing parity,” TANY attorney Brian Carr said. “We’re looking for fairness — this is not fair.”
The congestion pricing plan charges vehicles by size and use, with lower tolls for motorcycles and higher ones for trucks and non-commuter buses.
Taxis, Ubers and Lyfts will be charged per trip, with the toll in these cases passed on to the passenger.
“Do you deny that trucks are bigger?” Liman asked Carr, pushing back on the argument that trucks were not a significant contributing factor to congestion.
Should Liman rule in the plaintiffs’ favor, congestion pricing will be paused pending a trial on the legal challenge’s merits. If he denies the motion, congestion pricing will proceed as planned while a trial continues.
The MTA has also filed a motion for summary judgment, asking Liman to dismiss the plaintiffs’ cases without trial.
Liman said Friday that he would likely hold a conference among the parties after making a decision on the injunction, all of which would happen before he ruled on the MTA’s motion to dismiss.
Congestion pricing — which was recently revived by Gov. Hochul with lower toll costs after she intervened to pause the plan in June — is required by New York State law in order to back an issuance of $15 billion in bonds toward the MTA’s capital budget.
The Manhattan federal proceeding is one of several working its way through the justice system in the weeks ahead of congestion pricing’s planned start.
Hearings are expected Monday in a Westchester case seeking to stop the toll, and a ruling is expected imminently in the state of New Jersey’s suit against the traffic plan.
