Timeframe for Court Showdown on NYC Congestion Pricing Becomes Clear
In a pretrial hearing this week, representatives for the federal government and for New York City DOT and the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) spoke with Judge Lewis Liman from the Southern District of New York to discuss the next steps on litigation regarding the Congestion Pricing program in New York City. The hearing followed the joint submission of a proposed timeline last Friday.
The proposed schedule would have the Administrative Record completed by the end of May, with motions to supplement or produce extra record discovery if any occurring over the summer. At the end of the summer or early fall, the Federal government defendants and then the plaintiffs would ask the judge to rule in their favor (a Motion for Summary Judgement) without a full trial. With these filings and deliberations playing out into the Fall, it is likely that $9 tolls to enter the Manhattan central business district will continue to be in effect for months to come.
While Sec. Duffy has issued threats to NY for noncompliance, and FHWA gave NY an April 20 deadline to turn off the tolls, at the pretrial hearing on Wednesday, counsel for the Federal government indicated that no action is imminent. The plaintiffs in the case made clear there would be “irreparable harm to the MTA, TBTA, and the people of New York if tolling ceased” and that further they don’t intend to turn off the tolling system short of an order from judge directing them to do so.
Litigation Background
The MTA v. Duffy litigation proceeds from a February 19th letter from USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy to Gov. Kathy Hochul of NY. In Sec. Duffy’s letter he stated that he had reviewed the tolling authority granted to New York under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP) and had determined that the Central Business District’s Tolling Program was not in fact an eligible use of the VPPP. Based on the concerns about a lack of a non-toll driving option and the appearance that the goal was transit revenues rather than congestion reduction, Sec. Duffy’s letter purported to rescind FHWA’s prior approval of the program and to terminate the contract for congestion pricing signed on November 21, 2024. FHWA gave NY until March 21 to end the congestion pricing.
While the contract envisioned the possibility that the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) could voluntarily “decide to discontinue tolls on the Project” it does not provide authority for FHWA to unilaterally rescind the approval so long as the project continues to comply with all applicable Federal laws and requirements. In a complaint filed the same day, in response to Sec Duffy’s letter, attorneys on behalf of the MTA and TBTA called the federal government’s effort to terminate the program “unlawful” and “in open disregard of a host of federal statutes and regulations, not to mention the MTA and TBTA’s rights under the United States Constitution.”
In response to Governor Hochul’s refusal to stop the program to end the congestion pricing program by March 21 as requested, USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy “put… New York on notice” through a social media post in which he obliquely threatened to withhold “the billions of dollars the federal government sends to New York” in response to NY’s “continued noncompliance.” Sec. Duffy’s tweet was followed up by a somewhat more restrained letter from Gloria Shepherd, Executive Director of FHWA, in which she indicated that Sec. Duffy had directed her to “extend the period of time to comply by 30 days”, e.g. until April 20.
History of Congestion Pricing in NYC
Although there is a general prohibition against tolling on Federal-aid highways, various statutes have carved out exemptions, including ISTEA’s Congestion Pricing Pilot Program—renamed the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP) in 1998. VPPP enables a limited number of states to use pricing to reduce roadway congestion and evaluate the impacts of pricing on traffic volumes, driver behaviors, transit ridership, air quality, and availability of transportation revenues.
Modern efforts to begin congestion pricing in NYC date back to a 2007 proposal from then Mayor Michael Bloomberg, modeled on the successful implementation of congestion pricing in London, which had begun in 2003. The VPPP provides 15 “slots” for States to implement pricing schemes, and New York requested and received a slot as part of an Urban Partnership Agreement with the George W. Bush Administration. Mayor Bloomberg proposed an $8 charge on cars entering Manhattan below 86th Street, during peak hours, to raise funding for mass transit. Despite support from the New York City Council and funding from the Federal government to implement the system, the congestion pricing was killed by the New York State Assembly in 2009 due to opposition from suburban constituents.
However congestion in New York persisted and increased, and the financial situation for MTA continued to be a challenge. Meanwhile, more international cities successfully implemented congestion pricing, such as Stockholm in 2007 and Milan in 2012. These forces served to bring the proposal for congestion pricing back to the table in the last decade. Then-Governor Andrew Cuomo began to signal support for the proposal in the late teens, formally including congestion pricing in his budget proposal in January 2019. The NY State legislature passed the proposal in April of that year. The COVID pandemic delayed implementation efforts, but work to conduct the environmental review of the congestion pricing plan began in earnest in 2022, with the FHWA issuing the 958 page final Environmental Assessment in 2023.
Congestion Pricing Impacts to Date
The congestion pricing system has now been in effect for three full months and data is showing that the pricing is affecting driver behavior and transit ridership. On all NYC public transportation systems, ridership for the nine days of April was up 10% compared to the same period last year. The greatest increase in ridership numbers appears to be on the bus system, which increased by 18%. Improving timely bus operations by reducing roadway congestion is a primary goal for congestion pricing systems and can make bus transportation a more reliable and attractive option for travelers. The Long Island Railroad also saw above average increases of 12% higher ridership; political leaders of Nassau and Suffolk counties in Long Island have been among the most vocal opponents of congestion pricing and have led litigation to stop the system.
MTA has also reported that the goals of reducing congestion and producing revenue are also being achieved. According to the MTA, 60,000 fewer vehicles are entering the Congestion Relief Zone every day since implementation began, and calls to 311 reporting excessive honking have dropped by 70%. In the first month of operations, MTA reported revenues of $48.6 million, which exceeded their expectations of $40 million per month.
Polling has indicated growing support for congestion pricing within New York City. While a December 2024 Siena poll, prior to implementation, found that 56% of city residents opposed congestion pricing, only 40% of the Siena poll participants in early March expressed a preference for congestion pricing to be eliminated. With the schedule for litigation set this week and the commitment from New York to continue operations in the interim, it seems likely that the congestion pricing experiment has a decent runway ahead of it to continue gathering data.
For more information about congestion pricing, see the following:
Congestion Pricing in New York: Beware the Even Years. June 2024.
How Would Killing NYC Congestion Pricing Affect Transit Funding? June 2024
New York MTA Outlines $16.5B in Capital Funding Cuts Due to Delay of Congestion Pricing June 2024
Eno’s Congestion Pricing report May 2020.
