By Michael V. Cusenza
In a seemingly final blow to opponents of congestion pricing, New Jersey District Judge Leo Gordon on Monday rejected the State of New Jersey’s claims in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that the plan’s environmental assessment was flawed.
“We’re gratified that on virtually every issue, Judge Gordon agreed with the New York federal court and rejected New Jersey’s claim that the Environmental Assessment approved 18 months ago was deficient,” said MTA Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber.
In August 2022, the Federal Highway Administration, State Department of Transportation, MTA Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and City Department of Transportation on Wednesday released an Environmental Assessment of the proposed Central Business District Tolling Program in Manhattan, known commonly as congestion pricing.
The document evaluated the effects of the program compared with taking no action. The document found that central business district tolling would accomplish the goal of New York State’s MTA Reform and Traffic Mobility Act of reducing traffic congestion in the Manhattan Central Business District and raising revenue for investment in transit.
Among the key findings of the assessment:
- Implementation of tolls would achieve the purpose and need of the project – to reduce traffic congestion in the Manhattan CBD in a manner that will generate revenue for future transportation improvements.
- With initiation of the program, the number of vehicles entering the CBD would decline by 15.4 percent to 19.9 percent, depending on the tolling scenario. Traffic elsewhere in the region would change between -1.5 percent to 0.2 percent, depending on the location and the tolling scenario.
- Air quality would improve overall, with greater beneficial effects within and closer to the CBD.
- Reduction in traffic would result in increased reliability of bus service
- Increase in transit ridership of 1 percent to 2 percent
“Despite the best efforts of the State of New Jersey trying to thwart New York’s ability to reduce congestion on our streets while making long-overdue investments in public transit, our position has prevailed in court on nearly every issue. This is a massive win for commuters in both New York and New Jersey. Now that the judge has issued his ruling, the program will move forward this weekend with a 40 percent reduction in the originally proposed cost of the toll,” Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote in a statement. “Commuters deserve a world-class transit system that’s safe, efficient and modern. Local residents deserve clean air and safe streets. Drivers deserve less congestion and reduced traffic. This is what we will begin to achieve — at a lower cost to drivers — when congestion pricing begins on Jan. 5.”
The City Council Common Sense Caucus continued to rail against the plan this week, calling it a “scam tax.”
“Today’s ruling by Judge Gordon confirms that the Federal Highway Administration acted arbitrarily and capriciously in greenlighting the congestion scam tax,” the caucus said in a statement. “With several legal cases and injunctions still pending, moving forward with congestion pricing on Jan. 5 would be reckless and presents significant complications for the State, including potential court-mandated refunds. We urge the MTA Board to convene immediately and vote to pause congestion pricing before further damage is done.”
