A line in the sand was drawn regarding the collection of congestion pricing tolls. As of Thursday, March 20, all signs indicate that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to cross it.
Last month, the Federal Highway Administration told the state that it must end its congestion pricing program by Friday, March 21. However, Hochul and Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber both said this week that they have no plans to comply with the deadline.
“I’m not shutting it off,” Hochul told NBC New York on Tuesday. “I’m not shutting it off. As I repeated in the Oval Office on Friday, the cameras are not going off. It is working. It was a state decision. We had the proper federal approvals for this.”
On Feb. 19, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy informed Hochul that FHWA had revoked its approval of the tolling program.
“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 statement. “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 backwards and unfair.”
Soon after, FHWA told the state that it must cease the collection of the congestion pricing tolls by Friday, March 21. MTA responded by filing a federal lawsuit to challenge FHWA’s decision.
Trucking groups support ending congestion pricing
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association welcomed Duffy’s decision to pull approval for New York’s congestion pricing. The Association said that the program was especially problematic for owner-operators and other truckers who have little control over their schedules.
“We routinely have no other choice than to drive through metropolitan areas during periods of high congestion because of the rigidity of current federal hours-of-service requirements,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Additionally, shippers and receivers generally have little regard for a driver’s schedule, frequently requiring loading and unloading to occur at times when nearby roads are most congested. New York City’s congestion pricing plan was anti-trucker to begin with, and we will continue fighting to ensure it doesn’t come back. Beyond New York City, we encourage the Trump administration and Congress to fight the expansion of tolling across the country.”
On Wednesday, March 19, the American Trucking Associations and the Trucking Association of New York told Duffy that New York’s congestion pricing program is “ill-conceived” and “discriminatory.”
“The congestion pricing scheme was clearly designed to discriminate against trucks,” the groups wrote. “While passenger vehicles pay a $9 daily fee that provides them with unlimited passage into the zone (a requirement of New York state law), trucks are forced to pay up to $21.60 each time they enter the zone. Our members report that, as a result, they have increased their rates to offset the additional costs, which are significant and cannot be absorbed by carriers already operating on low margins. It should be noted that trucks already pay a highway use tax and a commercial motor vehicle tax to operate on roads in New York City, taxes that passenger vehicles are not subject to.” LL
Land Line Associate Editor Tyson Fisher contributed to this report.
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