New Jersey Sues Federal Government Over New York’s Congestion Tolls

New Jersey sued the U.S. Department of Transportation for its role approving New York’s planned congestion toll, arguing the federal government should conduct a fuller environmental-impact study of what would be the nation’s first congestion pricing system.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Newark, Friday morning. The suit, which also lists the Federal Highway Administration and two officials at that division of DOT as defendants, could upend plans by New York officials to raise money for the subway system by charging congestion tolls on people who drive into the busiest parts of Manhattan.

“We believe the feds short-circuited the normal review process,” the Democratic governor said in an interview on Good Day New York.

The Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA, doesn’t comment on pending litigation, a spokeswoman said. A spokesman for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which will oversee congestion pricing, said the lawsuit was baseless and that the authority’s environmental review “covered every conceivable potential traffic, air quality, social and economic effect.”

The FHWA signed off on the MTA’s review in late June, and the MTA has begun setting up camera systems needed to charge the tolls. The authority hopes to start charging congestion tolls by the spring of 2024 on vehicles that enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.

Murphy argued that the new tolls will unfairly target New Jersey drivers, who already pay a $17 toll to use the Lincoln or Holland tunnels into Manhattan. Around 111,000 people drove into Manhattan’s business district from New Jersey on an average fall weekday in 2019, according to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, a planning group.

The MTA this week convened a board that will set toll rates and consider exemptions—including a possible credit for drivers who must already pay tolls to use tunnels.

The congestion charge could be as high as $23 during rush hour, according to the MTA’s environmental review. Drivers just using highways along the Hudson and East rivers can avoid the fee, and low-income residents of the congestion zone would receive an offsetting tax rebate.

The toll must raise enough money to cover operating costs as well as bonds to finance $15 billion of mass-transit improvements for the MTA. New York approved the congestion pricing in 2019 as part of a larger budget bill in Albany.

In addition to raising funds, leaders of the MTA estimated that the new tolls would reduce traffic by up to 20%, thereby improving air quality and reducing trip times. Similar systems are in place in London, Stockholm and Singapore.

Advocates for congestion pricing said any exemptions would raise the base toll rates for other drivers. Lisa Daglian, who heads an advisory committee that advocates for MTA riders, said most New Jersey residents who commute to Manhattan come on trains or in buses and many of them then ride the subway.

“We strongly condemn this lawsuit for its attempt to halt progress on improving transit, reducing congestion and pollution, and creating a healthier and more sustainable region,” she said.

At a morning press conference, Murphy and other elected officials said they had no formal role in the process and had no choice but to sue.

“Some may call this strategy hardball,” said Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) “If any state, be it New York or any other, wants to shake down New Jerseyans in order to balance their budget—they have another thing coming.”

Write to Jimmy Vielkind at [email protected]