Global Courant 2023-05-07 00:13:16
The Department of Transportation has given the green light to New York’s controversial fare plan, which would impose tolls on drivers trying to enter Manhattan during rush hours.
On Friday, the Federal Highway Administration gave preliminary approval to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s environmental and legal submissions for the proposal, allowing it to move forward with a 30-day public review period. The administration is expected to give its final approval to the congestion pricing plan at the end of that review period, Politico reported.
Under the plan, drivers entering Manhattan could be forced to pay as much as $23 on top of other tolls and surcharges. The charges are opposed by North Jersey Democrats, who say the New York plan is unfair and essentially a tax on Jersey drivers.
MTA officials have said they will need about a year to build the necessary toll infrastructure, putting the plan on track to go into effect in the second quarter of 2024.
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Traffic moves through downtown Manhattan in New York City on April 21, 2023. Local politicians and public transportation advocates are demanding the immediate implementation of New York’s Central Business District (CBD) toll program, also known as “congestion pricing.” (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
A spokesperson for New York Governor Kathy Hochul told Politico that the Biden administration’s approval “is a critical step in ensuring that our environmental assessment is publicly available for all to read, and we will continue to work with our partners to advance congestion charging. .”
“Governor Hochul is committed to introducing congestion charges to reduce traffic, improve air quality and support our public transportation system,” said Hochul spokesman John Lindsay. “We have worked closely with partners within government and community members over the past four years to develop a plan that will achieve these goals.”
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The Empire State Building and tourist district are seen as a traffic jam is reported along the route to New York City on August 17, 2022 in Jersey City, New Jersey. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said a congestion pricing plan will bring billions of dollars in revenue to public transportation projects and also ease traffic congestion in Manhattan’s tourist district and financial center. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/VIEWpress)
However, New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy called the plain “unfair and ill-advised.”
“Since day one, I have opposed the disproportionate negative impact of congestion charges on New Jersey residents — an increased financial burden on New Jersey commuters, dual tolls, toll shopping, a lack of revenue for NJ TRANSIT, excessive environmental burdens on certain Northern – Jersey communities and financial impact on the Port Authority’s capital budget,” Murphy said in a statement. “Everyone in the region deserves access to more reliable public transportation, but putting an unjustified financial burden on hard-working New Jersey commuters is wrong. Simply put, it’s a money grab.”
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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has called New York’s congestion pricing plan “unfair and unwise.” (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The governor said he supports congestion charging in principle, but called New York’s plan “misguided.”
New Jersey Democratic Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Bill Pascrell, each representing districts bordering New York, also condemned the “Congestion Tax.”
“They want to impose it on our families and commuters with a tax of $23 a day, but we will not accept it in Jersey – the battle has only just begun. I demand that the Department of Transport reconsider their decision in the next 30 days,” Gottheimer said in a statement.
“New Jerseyans are used to paying our fair share, but New York’s congestion pricing system is fatally flawed and unnecessarily unfair,” Pascrell said. “The New York plan would burden Jersey commuters with additional taxes on top of our already high taxes, without the necessary financial returns for our transit systems. Having the federal government’s stamp of approval is wrong and an affront to New Jersey.”
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In a statement, MTA Chief of External Relations John J. McCarthy thanked the federal government for giving the go-ahead to the congestion pricing plan.
“Congestion charging is a generational opportunity to make it easier for people to move in and out of the Central Business District, by reducing traffic and funding improvements to the public transportation system. To get it right, environmental justice has been an integral part of component. We are grateful that the FHWA has recognized the efforts of the project sponsors to date and determined that the document meets regulatory adequacy standards.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Chris Pandolfo is a writer for Fox News Digital. Send tips to chris.pandolfo@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @ChrisCPandolfo.
