The Trump administration has set a March 21 deadline on its plan to terminate New York City’s congestion toll on drivers entering Midtown Manhattan.
The deadline was made apparent in a termination letter from the U.S. Department of Transportation to officials in New York, New York City, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The letter, dated February 20, was revealed Wednesday.
“In order to provide NYSDOT and its project sponsors time to terminate operations of this pilot project in an orderly manner, this rescission of approval and termination of the November 21, 2024 Agreement will be effective on March 21, 2025,” wrote Gloria Shepherd, executive director of the Federal Highway Administration.
The notice is in line with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s order pulling approval of the controversial congestion pricing last week. The toll, Duffy said, casts an extra burden on working Americans who are already paying for gas taxes and other taxes for improvement of the highway system entering New York City.
The congestion toll took effect in early January, imposing a $9 charge on drivers entering Manhattan below 60th street during peak hours. The tax would have increased by $3 increments in 2028 and 2031 as drivers adjust to the program.
President Donald Trump claimed victory over the New York City policy last week, likening himself to royalty. “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” he posted on Truth Social.
Trump previously said he would end the Democratic stronghold’s congestion pricing.
Governor Kathy Hochul, who paused implementation of the program last summer before reversing course after Trump’s reelection victory, vowed to fight back.
“Public transit is facing an existential threat from Washington right now, whether it’s the overall funding or whether it is the attack on congestion pricing,” the Democratic governor said at an MTA board meeting on Wednesday. “One thing we’ve established: New Yorkers do not back down.”
Immediately after the Transportation Department rescinded the congestion toll’s approval, the MTA filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court challenging the decision. It remains to be seen whether the legal effort can keep the program alive.
The MTA has vowed to continue collecting the $9 toll until it sees a court order. Meanwhile, the termination deadline is over three weeks away.
Hochul, who supports the Manhattan congestion toll, met with Trump at the White House on Friday to discuss the issue. During the meeting, she brought a picture-heavy booklet as a visual aid to make her point.
“There is a huge disconnect from the reality we know New Yorkers are facing and the perception of reality at the White House,” Hochul said. “I guarantee the president has never had to endure missing a child’s sporting event because he was stuck on a delayed train, never had to stand in a flooded subway station because we were not able to make the repairs, not sitting in traffic missing an important meeting.”
“That is the reality of New Yorkers that we are solving for,” she added. “I know there’s a lot of power in that Oval Office. But I’ll put that power up against the power of 6 million pissed-off commuters in New York City.”