MTA: Congestion pricing tolls will continue despite fed attempt to end program

The MTA has no intention of halting its congestion pricing tolls, according to the agency’s chairman, who said Thursday that federal officials "don’t have the right" to kill the program, as President Donald Trump has said he has done.

Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy — a day after rescinding federal approval for New York’s congestion pricing program — reiterated that the tolling program was "flat out wrong," but suggested it could be made acceptable to the White House with some tweaks.

Speaking to Spectrum NY1 News on Thursday morning, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said the MTA made it clear that the agency plans to keep its congestion pricing program in place unless and until it is directed by a court to do otherwise.

"Something of this kind cannot be taken away without a federal court order. We're going to fight it all the way," said Lieber, who noted that Duffy’s letter rescinding Federal Highway Administration approval did not order the MTA to immediately stop charging the tolls. "I think they know that they don't have the right to terminate the program. And we'll see what happens."

Hochul spokesman Gordon Tepper on Thursday confirmed that the MTA was still collecting the congestion pricing tolls.

In an interview with CBS News, Duffy defended rescinding federal approval, which he said was based, in part, on the fact that by cordoning off a section of Manhattan that can only be accessed by paying a toll, the congestion pricing program disproportionately affects motorists who can least afford the $9 car toll that went into effect on Jan. 5.

"There’s no free pathway into that cordoned area. So if you’re a middle-income or a lower-income shopper or workers, you can’t access public roads by any means into this area? That’s flat out wrong, and we’ve never had a program like that," Duffy said. "It's think it’s a war on the working-class Americans who work in that space. And it’s a favor to the rich people ... (who) can pay the toll. It doesn’t bother them."

Asked if he would be open to some form of congestion pricing plan, Duffy said, "Oh yeah ... 100%."

"I think there’s a lot of great ideas around congestion pricing," said Duffy, who suggested he’d be more amenable to a plan with a lower toll amount and an option to enter the cordoned zone for free. I want to make sure that, if (Hochul) is going to charge a fee, a toll, she’s going to charge an amount that is actually going to reduce congestion, and not just raise money for public transportation."

In his letter to Hochul Wednesday, Duffy said federal transportation officials would contact New York State and MTA officials "to discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations." Lieber said Thursday, "Obviously, we're not going to do that."

Eric M. Freedman, constitutional law professor at Hofstra University’s School of Law, said that despite receiving Duffy’s letter, the MTA need not feel in any rush to take down the tolls, as the process of rescinding federal approval for a project is a long and complicated one. What’s more, Freedman said, the ensuing legal battle could also be prolonged, lasting into the next presidential administration.

"As a practical matter, the status quo of the continued collection of the (toll) charge is going to remain in effect for a long time to come," Freedman said. "It would require an eventual victory in court for the (DOT) to, in fact, succeed. And that victory, which in all likelihood is never going to happen, if against all odds, does happen, it won’t happen for years to come."

That’s not fast enough for congestion pricing opponents, including several Republican lawmakers from Long Island who gathered in Wantagh Thursday to celebrate what they called a victory in their fight against congestion pricing.

Hempstead Town Supervisor Donald X. Clavin Jr., who has filed two lawsuits challenging congestion pricing, said he’s directed his legal team to "go back to court and make sure those cameras go off," referring to the equipment used to scan vehicles’ license plates to charge the tolls.

Congestion pricing supporters have said that in the six weeks since the tolls came online, they’ve already made a significant impact, speeding travel times into and out of Manhattan, reducing traffic accidents, and boosting transit ridership. Lieber said that in its first month, the congestion pricing tolls "kept 1.2 million cars off of the streets that would have been there, based on the stats from last year."

But Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One Wednesday, suggested the reduction in traffic in Manhattan was nothing to celebrate.

"If you take a look, traffic will go down because people aren’t going to come, if people don’t come the whole place is going to be a disaster," Trump said. "So ... traffic will go down but that means they’re not going to spend their money in New York. They’ll go someplace else."

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.