Trump administration tears up New York’s congestion pricing plan

“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners,” Duffy said in a press release. “Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes. But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways.”

“It’s backward and unfair,” he added.

Critics suggested that President Donald Trump, a former New Yorker, declared himself royalty after the move, citing his use of the word “king” in a post on social media:

“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD,” he said in a post on Truth Social. “Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!”

Hochul issued a sharp rebuke of his post, saying in a statement, “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.”

“Public transit is the lifeblood of New York City and critical to our economic future — as a New Yorker, like President Trump, knows very well,” she said before touting the program’s reduction of traffic and that foot traffic is boosting business, noting, “Broadway shows are selling out.”

“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” she added. “The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”

New York City implemented the plan in January after an extended pause from Hochul, which generated a considerable uproar from transit activists in the city. She altered the plan to lessen the tolling effect on commuters before reinstating it.

Duffy and other Transportation Department officials said the program was canceled for two reasons. One is because they believe the scale of the program is “unprecedented” and “provides no toll-free option for many drivers who want or need to travel by vehicle in this major urbanized area.”

The second reason the DOT put forward is that the toll was “driven primarily” by efforts to raise money for the state’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“By doing so, the pilot runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP, which is to impose tolls for congestion reduction — not transit revenue generation,” according to the DOT.

Duffy also said he decided to review the program after Trump and New Jersey officials, who long opposed the plan, showed concern. He ended the letter by saying Federal Highway Administration officials would contact New York’s transportation department “to discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations under this terminated pilot project.”

The tolling program’s death is already raising legal concerns. The MTA announced Wednesday afternoon that it is filing papers in court to continue the program.

“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 from the millions of mass transit users, pedestrians and, especially, the drivers who come to the Manhattan Central Business District,” it said in a statement.

“It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review — and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program — USDOT would seek to totally reverse course,” it added.

New York House Republicans cheered the decision.

“BIG news! President Trump kept his word & is halting the #NYC Congestion Pricing cash grab!” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), the only New York House Republican, posted on X. “Since first speaking with him in May, he agreed that this tax unfairly double tolls our constituents, would have a negative impact on our city’s economy & he would reverse President Biden’s rubber stamp! Thank you President Trump!”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called the plan a “scam” and said he won’t stop fighting “until it’s dead for good.”

“From the beginning, I have led the effort to end Congestion Pricing and am grateful to @POTUS for following through on his commitment to end this scam. I will not stop fighting until it’s dead for good and the @MTA is held accountable for its decades of mismanagement and waste,” he posted on X.

On the other side of the aisle, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) wasn’t as kind to Trump. He called the DOT’s argument for canceling the plan “utterly baseless and, frankly, laughable.” He also noted the program’s benefits: less traffic within the city and less “noise pollution.”

“The notion of revoking approval for a federal initiative of this magnitude is nearly without precedent,” he said. “I firmly believe that there is no legal basis for the President to unilaterally halt this program. The Value Pricing Program is solidly established under federal law, and its approval cannot be arbitrarily revoked, especially when it is clearly delivering tangible benefits.”

“Mr. President, we’ll see you in court,” he added.

Riders Alliance, an organization representing transit riders in the city, also suggested it would challenge the decision.

“We’ve organized for a decade and prevailed in court in three states, achieved a historic victory, and will continue to defend it with everything we have,” it said.

Hochul was set to speak to Trump more on congestion pricing in an effort to convince him of the value of the plan. She spoke to him multiple times in January about congestion pricing, and he expressed his opposition to it. Hochul could speak with him about congestion pricing in their meeting during the National Governors Association event on Feb. 20-22.

Malliotakis and Lawler also spoke to Trump in hopes he would end the plan. Both lawmakers represent districts that are reliant on commuting to the city in cars.

Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) lobbied Trump to end the plan as well, sending him a letter saying the program was “a disaster for working- and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents who need or want to visit Lower Manhattan.”

His state already sued to end the plan.

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The New York Post, which first reported the news, said a source familiar with the Trump administration suggested that the letter is a negotiating tactic, not the final move on the program.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Hochul’s office for comment but did not receive a response.