The Trump Administration has extended the deadline it gave to New York City to end its congestion price program, the first of its kind in the nation, as New York officials promised to keep the tolls.
The Federal Highway Administration initially instructed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to stop collecting tolls for this Friday to allow an “ordered cessation.”
Traffic moves throughout the center of Manhattan on February 19, 2025 in New York City.
Alex Kent/Getty Images
One day before that deadline, the Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced on social networks that the Department of Transportation is giving New York an “extension of 30 days as discussions continue.”
“Know that billions of dollars that the federal government sends to New York is not a blank check. Continuous breach will not be taken lightly,” he said Thursday.
Duffy also warned the governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, that President Donald Trump and the federal government are “putting in New York account.”
“His refusal to end the prices of Cordon and his lack of open respect for the federal government is unacceptable,” he said.
The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, speaks at a press conference at the Department of Transportation on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
In response, Hochul He highlighted his statement In social networks after the United States Department of Transportation, he obtained the federal approval of the Congestion Price Plan last month, in which he said: “The cameras are maintained.”
The approval was withdrawn on February 19 after a review requested by Trump. Duffy said at that time that the “scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authorized authority” under the pilot pricing program of the administration of federal roads while calling it “vice versa and unfair.”
The MTA has said that it is challenging the reversal of the Trump administration in the Federal Court, looking for a declarative sentence that the DOT measure is not adequate. Hochul and the president and CEO of MTA, Janno Lieber, have said that they will not turn off the tolls without a court order.
Lieber reiterated that position during the observations in an informative press session not related on Tuesday, while maintaining that this is not “a test of will” but a normal litigation procedure.
“We are only proceeding with the dispute as it would normally in any litigation environment,” he said. “This is not a test of will. It is only the reality of when you have a dispute, things do not change until a court orders it, and that has not yet taken place.”
“We do not expect me to do it, because we are in a fairly strong legal base,” he added.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, presents a brochure that mentions congestion prices, sitting next to the CEO of MTA Janno Lieber during a meeting of the MTA Board at Grand Central Madison in New York City, on February 25, 2025.
Sarah Yenel/EPA-EFE/Shuttersock
Lieber said that the federal government has not yet responded to the initial complaint of the MTA, and that there is even more time for them to do so.
“The good news is that the program, which has had such surprising benefits for New York: faster trips, cleaner air, less accidents, less horn, quieter, better atmosphere for all and also great economic benefits, everything that will continue,” said Lieber.
“The program is already running for 10 weeks, and has been successful in all standards,” he continued. “And it’s right for New York to continue.”
The congestion price plan, which was launched on January 5, charges passenger vehicles $ 9 to access Manhattan below 60 street during peak hours as part of an effort to relieve congestion and raise funds for the city’s public transport system. During the peak hours, small trucks and charter buses are charged $ 14.40 and trucks and tourist buses pay $ 21.60.
The toll generated almost $ 50 million in revenues in its first month and is on the way to generate $ 500 million in net revenues for the end of this year, as initially projected, said the MTA.
