Congestion pricing opponents celebrate as Trump moves to kill toll, but lawsuits continue
Originally published in
WAMC Northeast Public Radio
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In the suburbs, opposing congestion pricing has been a bipartisan issue. Not long after the toll took effect, Democratic State Senator James Skoufis introduced legislation to pull Orange County from the MTA. The bill garnered the support of a bipartisan coalition that includes Assemblymembers Jonathan Jacobson, Paula Kay, Chris Eachus, Karl Brabenec, and Brian Maher, as well as State Senator Rob Rolison.
Rolison, a Republican from Poughkeepsie, says they may continue to work on the bill, even if congestion pricing dies.
"As a stand-alone measure, that could still happen," says Rolison. "Pulling Orange County out of the MTA is a larger issue than congestion pricing."
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Advocates now worry an end to congestion pricing could worsen a funding gap at the MTA and gut plans for infrastructure improvements in and outside of New York City. In her State of the State Address, Hochul had proposed a number of improvements to Hudson Valley transit specifically, including plans meant to speed up trips on the Metro-North. Rolison says killing congestion pricing doesn’t have to mean canning infrastructure plans.
He’d like to see an independent, forensic audit of the MTA to see what its options are.
"The MTA is a very important operation for this region. Getting people to move about that don't have access to cars, or getting people out of cars, that is, of course, a worthwhile endeavor," he adds. "But we just gotta be more transparent about it. We really need to understand and get the trust back to the people who pay the bill."
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