Eleventh of a Series: MTA Sets Start Date, Against Pushback
Written by David Peter Alan, Contributing Editor
We are still waiting for Judge Leo M. Gordon to decide the case filed by the State of New Jersey and other plaintiffs who oppose the Congestion Pricing proposal, which would impose tolls on motor vehicles that enter Manhattan at 60th Street and further south. He is expected to issue a ruling in June. Other cases in federal courts on the New York side have not proceeded as far as the New Jersey case. In the meantime, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which would administer the toll, has set a date for collection to start, but the plan’s opponents are keeping up the political fight.
Coming By June 30?
The MTA set June 30 as the implementation date. The agency set up a special-purpose website, www.congestionfreezone.mta.info, to announce events concerning the plan and its implementation. Its headline is “CONGESTION PRICING will unlock a better New York” (emphasis in original), and it stated the MTA’s side of the story: “It’s time for a city that moves faster, breathes easier, and works better. Congestion Pricing will dramatically reduce traffic in the Congestion Relief Zone, transforming the area from gridlocked to unlocked. Less traffic means cleaner air, safer streets, and better transit.”
Under the subhead: “A toll to reduce gridlock“: “Starting June 30, 2024, vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan—local streets and avenues at or below 60th Street—will be charged a toll. The toll will result in 100,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone every day, relieving crowding in what is today the most congested district in the United States.” The agency also said that the components of “the true cost of gridlock” are that average travel speed is 7.1 mph (a 23% decrease since 2010), 117 hours a year wasted in gridlock, along with $20 billion a year in wasted time and lost productivity, with 700,000 vehicles entering the zone every weekday.
The site also has information on the toll structure, discounts and exemptions, and a link to the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) from federal highway officials that is the subject of several court cases now pending on both sides of the Hudson. There is also a link for motorists to sign up for an account with E-ZPass, since that is how the tolls would be collected.
It now remains to be seen whether the MTA can actually start collecting the tolls as scheduled.
NJ, NY House Members Attempt Execution
Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat who represents the New Jersey’s fifth Congressional District (the state’s northern tier, including much of Bergen County) is one of the most vocal opponents of the congestion pricing plan. Gottheimer and Nicole Malliotakis, a New York State Republican whose district includes Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, are planning to introduce a bill that would prohibit congestion pricing.
Malliotakis complained on her website, www.malliotakis.house.gov: “The MTA’s Congestion Pricing Plan is nothing more than a cash grab that will take more money from commuters and shift traffic from Manhattan to the outer boroughs, increasing polluting in my district, particularly in minority communities … I’m proud to join my colleague [Gottheimer] in introducing this legislation to not only prohibit this cash grab from coming to fruition, but show there will continue to be a united front on the city, state and federal levels should the MTA move forward with this first-in-the-nation plan. The MTA’s war on cars is bankrupting commuters, and we will continue to use every legal and legislative tool we have to stop it.”
The site also said that Malliotakis introduced a provision last year that would prohibit federal funds from being used to implement congestion pricing, but it was taken out by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). According to an April 24 story in the New York Post, reporter Carl Campanile quoted Gottheimer as saying, “The mismanaged MTA’s Congestion Tax is nothing but a shameless cash grab that will lead to more traffic, pollution and financial heartache for Jersey New York families. That’s exactly why we’re introducing legislation at the federal level to stop it.”
It does not appear that such a bill has been introduced yet. At this writing, a review of new bills on the www.congress.com did not indicate a newly introduced bill from Gottheimer, but H.R. 422, the “Anti-Congestion Tax Act,” was introduced on Jan. 20, 2023. The site quoted the summary prepared by the Congressional Research Service: “This bill prohibits the Department of Transportation (DOT) from awarding capital investment grants to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for projects in New York until DOT certifies that drivers using certain vehicular crossings (e.g. Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, or George Washington Bridge) to enter into Manhattan receive exemptions from congestion fees … Drivers entering Manhattan using any of the crossings receive a federal tax credit at the end of the year equal to the amount paid in congestion fees.”
While the summary did not go further, it appears that Gottheimer would either force DOT to grant an exemption for vehicles entering Manhattan from New Jersey or they would be charged the toll and later be reimbursed in the form of a credit against their federal tax.
On May 18, 2023, Bill Pascrell, a fellow New Jersey Democrat, introduced H.R. 3551, which garnered the support of most of the state’s delegation. It is called the “STOP NJ CONGESTION” (Stop Taxation of Overburdened People from New Jersey by Correcting Obnoxious New Gimmick and Ensuring the Stability of Transportation Infrastructure from Obstinate Neighbors) Act. It would impose a sanction of 50% of transportation funds apportioned to states that use congestion pricing. It was referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit the next day, and no action has been reported on it since.
In the meantime, a top MTA official and others have questioned Gottheimer’s credibility. Campanile also reported in the Post that Long Island Rail Road President Rob Free mocked Gottheimer at an event commemorating the railroad’s 190th anniversary: “I believe I saw in a video that he was chauffeured here in a car. I’m trying to understand why he didn’t take public transit over the river and use the MTA system.”
Gersh Kuntzman, Editor-in-Chief of NYC Streetsblog reported on April 24 that Gottheimer’s vehicle was parked in a “No Standing” zone while he gave a press conference in front of MTA headquarters to complain that he was not given documents that he had demanded about how the agency had arrived at its revenue projections. He had gone to MTA headquarters on Feb. 11 for that purpose. Kuntzman also reported that the same vehicle was caught speeding in a school zone on March 2. The same report quoted MTA External Affairs Chief John McCarthy as saying, “Maybe Gridlock Gottheimer should spend his time fixing underfunded and underperforming transit service in New Jersey instead of tooling around Manhattan in a chauffeured automobile, causing even more congestion.”
Trump Opens His Mouth
Former President Donald Trump, the former New Yorker turned Floridian who is campaigning to hold that office again, has also blasted Congestion Pricing. In a May 7 story in the Washington Times, reporter Mallory Wilson said that, on the way to the Manhattan courthouse where he is on trial, Trump “railed” against the plan in a post on Truth Social. According to Wilson, Trump said, “I can’t believe that New York City is instituting Congestion Pricing, where everyone has to pay a fortune for the ‘privilege’ of coming into the City, which is in desperate trouble without it. It is a big incentive not to come—there are plenty of other places to go … It’s been a failure everywhere it’s been tried, and would only work if a place is HOT, HOT, HOT, which New York City is not right now. What office tenant or business would want to be here right now with this tax. Hopefully it will soon be withdrawn.” Wilson also reported:,“Mr. Trump has not had good things to say about New York City ever since he’s had to face one civil fraud lawsuit and one criminal case in Manhattan.”
MTA spokesperson McCarthy fired back at Trump. Michael Gold reported in The New York Times that McCarty said, “Once streets are less congested, the former President’s SUV should be able to get to the courthouse faster, or he can use mass transit like millions of hardworking New Yorkers do every day.” Matthew Chapman reported on www.msn.com on May 8 that “McCarthy also provided a screenshot of transit directions from Trump Tower to the Manhattan courthouse—which requires just a short ride on the 4 tTrain.” Chapman reported on the opposition to the plan, but also said, “However, studies have shown just 4 % of people in the outer boroughs and 1.6% of people in Northern New Jersey commute into Lower Manhattan by car, and those people are disproportionately ultra-wealthy” and provided a link to an article from Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies. We checked the MTA’s trip planner (which uses Google) and Bing Maps to get a weekday route between those points, arriving at 9:30 AM. Both said that using the N or Q Trains would be slightly faster than using an automobile.
Long Wait Likely
Everybody is waiting for Judge Gordon to make his ruling, which is still expected sometime in June. Does that mean the MTA can start collecting the tolls at the end of the month, even though the equipment for doing so has been installed?
Probably not. We previously reported on the multiplicity of cases in different Federal courts concerning the Congestion Pricing plan, and it could take longer than a few weeks after Gordon’s ruling to get to a final legal resolution. Then there is also the political fight against the plan that is coming from elected officials from both major parties, even though the MTA is fighting back.
We will report to you about Gordon’s decision when it comes down, and it’s possible that we could again report on a new development that happens first.
