By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would ask Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to again consider terminating the New York City vehicle congestion fee, more than five months after a federal judge blocked the effort.
The first-in-the-nation program launched in January charges most passenger vehicles $9 during peak periods to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street, which is on track to raise $500 million this year.
In May, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman issued a preliminary injunction preventing the U.S. Transportation Department from withholding federal funding from New York after the Trump administration sought to stop Manhattan’s congestion pricing program.
Duffy in April told New York Governor Kathy Hochul the Transportation Department could withhold environmental approvals or the start of project funding if the state did not end congestion pricing.
“New York City is getting KILLED by her ridiculous CONGESTION PRICING, where people have to pay a fortune to come into Manhattan – So they just don’t come!” Trump said on Truth Social of Hochul on Monday. “The place is a ghost town.”
Hochul has said tourism and business have increased in New York City because the fee is dramatically reducing gridlock.
Trump’s comments on social media come just a day before New York voters will pick a new mayor.
Duffy and Hochul’s offices did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judge Liman has said he will issue a ruling on the merits of the lawsuit by the end of December.
Hochul has said funds raised from the program underpin $15 billion in debt financing for critical mass transit capital improvements.
Earlier this month, Trump’s administration froze $18 billion for major transit projects in New York, including the $17.2 billion Hudson River tunnel project, which received more than $11 billion in federal grants for passenger railroad Amtrak and commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.
Trump said the Hudson tunnel project has been “terminated,” which has become a campaign issue in the New Jersey governor’s race.
Additionally, the Transportation Department on February 19 rescinded federal approval of a program designed to reduce traffic and raise money to upgrade aging subway and bus systems.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Nia Williams and Jamie Freed)
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