Congestion pricing in New York City will go into effect as planned Sunday morning after a federal judge in Newark rejected New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s last-minute request for a temporary injunction to halt the death toll.
Friday ruling is removed The final hurdle before congestion counting begins scheduled for Sunday. Starting at midnight on January 5, drivers will automatically be charged a toll for driving on Manhattan surface streets at or below 60th Street, paying a base fee of $9 to enter the congestion zone.
Judge Leo Gordon issued the ruling from the bench on Friday, after Garden State attorneys sought to clarify his ruling Monday in the long-running New Jersey lawsuit seeking to stem losses. The lawsuit filed by the Murphy administration — the most serious challenge to New York’s plan to charge drivers entering Midtown and lower Manhattan — argues that Changing traffic patterns from trucks and other vehicles seeking to avoid losses will unfairly impact air quality In New Jersey.
In his ruling, Gordon issued a “partial reserve order” for the Federal Highway Administration to approve congestion tolls. A judge ordered the feds to explain why New York’s congestion pricing plan was so detailed Mitigating pollution in the Bronxbut failed to provide details of such plans Several cities in New Jersey – Although both areas are expected to see an increase in vehicle traffic.
During Friday’s hearing in Newark, MTA attorney Elizabeth Knauer said he was there $9.8 million in mitigation funds have been allocated to New Jersey communities Since a June assessment by the Highways Department which will be rolled out over five years.
“There has always been a commitment to providing mitigation to communities in New Jersey that warrants this,” she said.
But Randy Mastro, a well-known attorney representing New Jersey, said Garden State residents would suffer, telling the judge: “You are the last line of defense and… I already realized they got it wrong.
The judge’s ruling earlier this week sparked confusion as both sides declared victory.
Governor Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber both He said the fee plan would continue The ruling did not include any language requiring them to stop while the feds respond to Gordon’s concerns.
But Garden State said the ruling should stop the losses in their tracks. New Jersey lawyers argued that even partial remand means the program is no longer authorized by federal regulators, and that the lack of clarity regarding pollution mitigation should in itself be enough to order a temporary halt to the program.
“The irreparable harm New Jersey will suffer once the MTA reverses the switch to congestion pricing is clear,” Garden State lawyers wrote earlier this week seeking an injunction against the Sunday start. “Beginning on Day 1, New Jersey will see increases in vehicle traffic and decreased air quality.”
New York’s congestion fee plan, imposed by law in 2019, aims to reduce traffic in Midtown and lower Manhattan while raising money for the MTA’s capital budget.
Toll revenue is intended to support $15 billion in bonds issued by the MTA, which will in turn finance a host of construction and repair projects around the city’s transportation network.
The tolls were scheduled to take effect last summer, before Gov. Hochul paused the plan three weeks before it began, eventually waiting until November to restart it at a lower initial cost to drivers.
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