NJ: Trump’s attempt to end $9 toll to enter Lower Manhattan blocked by judge

A Federal Court judge in New York granted an injunction that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority sought to prevent the U.S. Department of Transportation from shutting down the $9 congestion toll to enter Lower Manhattan.

U.S. District Court Judge Louis Limin granted an injunction that stops the transportation department in President Donald Trump’s administration from taking any action until a lawsuit filed by the MTA can be heard.

The tentative schedule in that suit could keep congestion pricing operating until at least October. However, the judge put an June 9 expiration date on the order and indicated he wants to resolve the issue sooner.

“The message he’s given us in this case is he wants to wrap up litigation and he’s asked the parties to move forward quickly with the briefing schedule and production of evidence which has been delayed a little bit by the federal government,” Janno Lieber, chief executive officer of the MTA, outside the courthouse after Tuesday’s hearing.

In the meantime, “the judge doesn’t want the feds to engage in punitive actions or worse ... before he’s decided and he wants to decide it fast,” Lieber said. “It’s good news that he spoke out on state sovereignty as an important factor weighing in his decision.”

In December, Liman upheld congestion pricing and ruled against several lawsuits that sought to delay its start.

Lawyers for the MTA argued that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did not give the agency notice or due process before pulling the June 2023 approval.

When later notices from USDOT gave the MTA a deadline to make its case, its attorneys said the USDOT’s decision has already been made, based on Duffy’s statement in the media, and that “this is an “opportunity to be heard in name only.”

MTA attorneys also argued in briefs filed before Tuesday that a statute which allows cordon or congestion pricing programs gives states the flexibility to use revenues from their tolling programs to fund transit projects.

One of the considerations in issuing the injunction is if the case has merit and the potential for success.

“We’re not going to overreact,” Lieber said. “That was an important factor in his decision.”

The USDOT attorneys reiterated Duffy’s arguments that congestion pricing revenues should be used for road projects that reduce congestion. The lack of a toll-free alternative also places a “disproportionate financial burden on low and medium-income hardworking American drivers.”

Attorneys said in briefs filed before Tuesday’s hearing that the Federal Highway Administration “has not determined what, if any, compliance measures it will take.” They also argued the U.S. Court of Federal Claims should hear the case.

The nation’s first congestion pricing program has been operating since Jan. 5. The USDOT has ordered New York and the MTA to shut down the program twice after pulling Biden administration approvals for it.

Despite threats to sanction New York by blocking highway funding if congestion pricing cameras and toll tag readers weren’t shut down on May 21, the equipment remained on and nothing happened.

Federal Highway Administration and USDOT officials did not respond to questions from NJ Advance Media about whether they will carry out the sanctions.

“We’d like to go home and write the final brief tomorrow if the other side agreed to the most rapid briefing schedule,” Liber said.

The USDOT pulled those approvals in February that allowed New York to charge a $9 toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street, which was immediately opposed in court by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

That action prompted the MTA, later joined by New York State to challenge the USDOT’s and Secretary Sean Duffy’s decision to void that approval and require congestion pricing to stop. The MTA’s case was joined seven New Jersey advocacy groups in support of congestion pricing.

In November 2024, the FHWA granted a third approval after the MTA set the current $9 congestion pricing rate. New Jersey said the decision was flawed because no public hearings were held on the new rate.

The Federal Highway Administration and USDOT under the Biden administration successfully fought New Jersey in court, when to U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Leo Gordon upheld the June 2023 approvals in a Dec. 30 decision.

A spokesperson for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s office declined to comment on the ruling since the state wasn’t involved in that case.

Congestion pricing, which was made a New York state law in 2019, was created to help reduce traffic, crashes and air pollution in Manhattan and raise $1 billion annually for subway, bus and commuter rail projects.

For Jersey drivers and bus commuters travel time through the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels have been reduced, even in rush hour.

The ruling was called a victory for New Yorkers by Lisa Daglian, Executive Director, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.

“It is a clear message that our state sovereignty is not open to federal interference. Transit riders, drivers, businesses and all New Yorkers are the clear winners here,” she said in a statement. “Traffic is down, business is up and congestion pricing works. The cameras are staying on, and we thank Judge Limin for his ruling.”

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