Congestion Pricing Supporters Head to Court to Get Program Back on Track
The New York Times
Supporters of the tolling program want Gov. Kathy Hochul to bring it back from an indefinite suspension. Opponents want it dead for good.
Three months after Gov. Kathy Hochul indefinitely paused the congestion pricing tolling program, its supporters are heading to a New York court on Friday to try to revive it.
These supporters — including the City Club of New York, Riders Alliance and Sierra Club — have filed a pair of lawsuits against Ms. Hochul and state transportation officials, arguing that the governor did not have the authority to stop congestion pricing and that the pause undermined the state’s environmental goals.
“We believe that the governor has overstepped her boundaries,” said Layla Law-Gisiko, president of the City Club, an influential civic organization.
The congestion pricing program — the first of its kind in the nation — was to have begun charging fees to most vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street on June 30. Passenger vehicles entering the zone would have been charged up to $15 once a day, with some exceptions.
Congestion pricing was expected to ease some of the worst traffic in the nation and improve air quality. The tolls were projected to raise about $1 billion annually, which would have been used to secure $15 billion in financing for crucial repairs to New York City’s sprawling transit system.
At Friday’s hearing, oral arguments in the two lawsuits supporting congestion pricing are scheduled to be heard before Justice Arthur F. Engoron in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. Before the hearing, congestion pricing supporters are planning to rally outside the courthouse.
