Despite the letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to Gov. Hochul, congestion pricing is still in place and it will stay place as the feds have no say in ending the tolling program for vehicles driving south of 60th St. Only New York, not Washington, can decide to pull the plug and Gov. Hochul is gamely pushing back. It is a fight that she will win.
The Duffy letter to Hochul was first published by another local newspaper Wednesday at 12:02, but not sent to Hochul. At 12:29, USDOT sent out a press release with the letter, but not to Hochul. Hochul said that her office received the letter at 1:01 and at 1:02, the MTA’s lawyer Robbie Kaplan filed a lawsuit against Duffy in Manhattan Federal Court, requesting that Judge Lewis Liman get the case.
Liman, who has been handling four of the lawsuits against congestion pricing, is well versed on the matter and has consistently ruled in favor of the MTA and New York that all the required studies, reviews and approvals were done properly and correctly. That was the same finding by federal judges Cathy Seibel in White Plains and Leo Gordon in Newark with their various congestion pricing lawsuits.
The issue before Liman is simple: Does the Federal Highway Administration (a subsidiary of USDOT) have the authority to revoke its signature on the Value Pricing Pilot Program, which is needed to put a toll on a federally-funded roadway?
The answer is likewise easy: No.
The VPPP document, signed by the state Department of Transportation, the MTA’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the city Department of Transportation and FHWA on Nov. 21, only permits one of the four parties to cancel the tolls, which are anticipated to last “at least 10 years.”
Paragraph 11 states in full: “That NYSDOT, TBTA and NYCDOT agree they will work with FHWA to return the Project to its original operating condition if TBTA decides to discontinue tolls on the Project.”
The TBTA alone can cancel, which is why President Trump was pressuring Hochul to stop the tolls, as only New York has that power. Not the president, not Duffy, not FHWA. The tolls started on Jan. 5, 2025, so the 10-year minimum window is Jan. 5, 2035, when Trump and Duffy will be long gone. Liman will come to the same conclusion.
It’s taken decades to get here and congestion pricing is duly enacted in New York law and approved by the federal government. A letter from Sean Duffy does nothing to change that.
Liman will be asking the lawyers for FHWA, who have been in court since 2023 supporting congestion pricing, why they are suddenly switching sides. A new president and new USDOT secretary is not a sufficient answer.
Duffy says congestion pricing has to go because it “provides no toll-free option for many drivers.” However, there is “no toll-free option” to traverse the Hudson River unless you drive all the way to downtown Albany to use the Dunn Memorial Bridge. All 10 crossings to the south have tolls.
He is also bothered that the revenue is going to transit and the toll is not geared solely to curbing traffic. Easy solution: increase the toll to keep more cars out of Midtown. We doubt that’s what Duffy’s thinking.
Judge Liman should make quick work of this.
