Trump ends tolling scam in Manhattan
Published Feb 19, 2025 — Gothamist
President Donald Trump’s administration revoked federal approval for congestion pricing on Wednesday, taking a first step toward fulfilling his campaign promise to kill the tolls that charge drivers a $9 daytime fee to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.
“CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, declaring victory even as the MTA vowed to keep the tolls on until a judge said otherwise.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent Gov. Kathy Hochul a letter stating his agency revoked federal approval for the tolls, which were permitted to launch through a Federal Highway Administration pilot program.
“I share the president’s concerns about the impacts to working-class Americans who now have an additional financial burden to account for in their daily lives,” Duffy wrote in the letter.
Less than an hour after Duffy issued his letter, MTA officials filed a defiant federal lawsuit against the federal Department of Transportation, arguing the Trump administration was unlawfully attempting to reverse approval of the program.
“The status quo is that congestion pricing continues, and unless and until a court orders otherwise, plaintiffs will continue to operate the program as required by New York law,” the MTA’s lawsuit states.
If Trump succeeds in canceling the tolls, he will strip more than $15 billion the MTA planned to spend on crucial upgrades to the city’s transit systems.
“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” Hochul wrote in a statement. “We’ll see you in court.”
Duffy’s letter focused on the Value Pricing Pilot Program, a little known initiative that allows states to impose tolls on federally funded roads and use the proceeds to fund mass transit improvements. Many of Manhattan’s streets receive federal subsidies.
These toll readers are used to collect congestion pricing tolls in Manhattan.
“The termination of the program may deprive the transit system of funding, but any reliance on that funding stream was not reasonable given that FHWA approved only a ‘pilot project,'” Duffy wrote.
“The revenues generated under this pilot program are directed toward the transit system as opposed to the highways. I do not believe this is a fair deal.”
Congestion pricing, which is relatively common other major cities abroad, is the first tolling program in the United States to impose a fee on drivers as a way to reduce traffic.
Duffy wrote he can revoke approval for the tolls because congestion pricing “appears to be driven primarily by the need to raise revenue for the Metropolitan Transit (sic) Authority.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, has echoed many of those criticisms and urged Trump to halt the tolls.
MTA data showed that traffic in Manhattan has declined since the tolls launched on Jan. 5. Travel times across bridges and tunnels into the toll zone sped up.
“It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally supervised environmental review – and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program – USDOT would seek to totally reverse course,” MTA Chair Janno Lieber wrote in a statement.
Hochul, a Democrat, initially balked at a base fare of $15 for the tolls, which were originally scheduled to launch last June. She paused her approval of the program, only to begin the process of reinstating them at a lower, $9 base price less than two weeks after November’s election. Trump criticized the program as a “massive business killer and tax on New Yorkers,” as well as the “worst plan in the history of womankind.”
“Since this first-in-the-nation program took effect last month, congestion has dropped dramatically and commuters are getting to work faster than ever,” Hochul wrote in her statement Wednesday. “Broadway shows are selling out and foot traffic to local businesses is spiking. School buses are getting kids to class on time, and yellow cab trips increased by 10%. Transit ridership is up, drivers are having a better experience, and support for this program is growing every day,” her statement said.
Manhattan had some of the world’s worst gridlock before the launch of congestion pricing.
Hochul has spoken to Trump by phone at least twice about the tolling program’s future prior to the federal transportation department’s letter. Both parties declined to publicly share details about their conversations, but Trump told the New York Post he was hopeful he and Hochul could strike a deal on funding for MTA projects.
The governor publicly appealed to Trump, who owns office buildings in Manhattan, by arguing that the toll reduced traffic on the streets and made it easier for his buildings’ tenants to get to work.
Hochul and Trump were set to discuss congestion pricing during a lunch scheduled at the White House last week. But Hochul abruptly scuttled those plans after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi filed suit against the governor in an attempt to gut New York’s “green light” law, which allows immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of whether they have legal status.
The governor told reporters she was hoping to meet with Trump when she travels to Washington for the National Governors Association winter meeting later this week, but that was before the Trump administration rescinded its congestion pricing approval.
Hudson Valley Rep. Mike Lawler, who is weighing a run for governor against Hochul, has relentlessly slammed the tolls as a cash grab.
Lawler had multiple conversations with Trump about blocking the tolls in recent months, dating back to the president’s campaign. He said Trump and his administration “followed through on their commitment to end this scam.”
