Congestion Pricing Stays: Judge Rules Trump Admin Effort to End It Was Illegal

Congestion pricing will live on following a federal judge’s ruling that the bid by Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to end the program was unlawful.

The program, which charges most motorists $9 to enter the zone below 60th St., went into effect on Jan. 5, 2025 but just over a month later Secretary Duffy said he was revoking federal approval for the program.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, who is a Trump appointee slammed the DOT in a 149-page ruling and stating that Duffy’s move to rescind the approval was “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with the law.”

MTA chairman and CEO Janno Leiber said, “Today–once again–Secretary Duffy failed and New York is winning.” The MTA has already begun spending some of the funds on major capital improvements on the transit system and eventually will use the cash flow from congestion pricing to borrow up to $15 billion in bonds.

The Federal Department of Transportation said it is considering its legal options and may appeal.

But Gov. Kathy Hochul felt the state will continue to prevail in court. “The judge’s decision is clear: Donald Trump’s unlawful attempts to trample on the self-governance of his home state have failed spectacularly. Congestion pricing is legal, it works, and it is here to stay. The cameras are staying on.”

After lengthy review, the congestion pricing plan, the first of its kind in the United States, was approved in 2024 by Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Duffy had sent two letters to Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Leiber on Feb. 19 and again on April 21 demanding that the program be halted.

Liman said that Duffy’s “actions purporting to terminate that agreement, including the February 19 letter and the April 21 letter, are vacated.”

”We’ve said it all along, and Judge Liman’s clear, detailed ruling leaves no doubt: congestion pricing is legal. It’s here to stay. And it works.

Even while congestion pricing was being challenged by the Trump administration, federal district court judges had allowed it to continue, which was an early indication that the Trump administration bid to end it was less than compelling.

In fact, at one point, Trump’s Department of Transportation had accidentally posted a memo in which they conceded that they had found no compelling legal reason for the program to be halted.

Money raised through the program goes to the MTA for major capital improvements. Through October, an MTA report found the tolls had generated $468 million in tolls and was on target to generate “over $500 million” in its first full year of operation.

The report found that traffic was down with 11 percent fewer vehicle entries between January and October 7.1 percent fewer vehicle miles traveled in the CRZ from January and September.

It also said it led to 4.6 percent faster flow of traffic. The one weak spot was response times from EMS ambulances continued to rise. Union leaders have said that a starting salary of around $47,000 a year has contributed to high turnover and staffing shortages.

But commuting times into the city as well as traffic flow within the zone are faster, air pollution is down and noise complaints to 311 near the Holland Tunnel are down double digits.