Congestion pricing is on its way — and in court. Here's why opponents are suing
Originally published in
WAMC
on
.
As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority gears up for the launch of its congestion pricing plan in New York City next month, a number of lawsuits seek to stop it.
The MTA plan would toll the average driver $15 to enter the central business district (CBD) south of 60th Street, with steeper prices for trucks and smaller fees for motorcycles and those traveling at night. Advocates say it will improve life in lower Manhattan by disincentivizing traffic. The MTA expects it to generate roughly $15 billion for improvements across the transit system.
Rockland County sued to stop the plan in March, adding to a pile of lawsuits that include cases from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, the United Federation of Teachers, a coalition of New York City residents, a songwriter from Battery Park City, and the Long Island town of Hempstead. On Friday, a federal judge in Manhattan heard arguments for three of these cases, but did not say when he might make a decision. The judge in the New Jersey suit has said he will rule by early June, before the MTA’s planned rollout of congestion pricing on June 30.
State Senator James Skoufis, a Democrat from the 42nd District, is just one Hudson Valley lawmaker who joined the UFT lawsuit earlier this year.
"We're arguing that the recommendations did not conduct a proper environmental review, they did not consider proper and necessary exemptions," he explains. "To suggest that my constituents, when there is no alternative, have to now pay $30 — $15 over the George Washington Bridge, and another $15 once they enter the business district of Manhattan — on top of gas, is an outrage."
