BREAKING: Federal Judge Rules Trump Can't Kill Congestion Pricing - Streetsblog New York City

"U.S. DOT's legal authority to approve and establish tolling programs "does not carry with it the inherent unilateral ability of whoever holds the office of Secretary of the Transportation at any particular moment to terminate a project whether established by himself or a predecessor," Judge Lewis Liman wrote in 149-page ruling issued on Tuesday."

"Buttigieg's agreement enabling the program gave "only" the MTA the authority to charge congestion pricing tolls, and not the federal government, the judge ruled. Duffy may only terminate the tolling program according to the terms of the Biden administration's agreement with the MTA - which gave New York and New York alone control over the toll's fate, Liman said."

"Congestion pricing "was the product of a democratic process," he wrote. "The democratic process worked." On Tuesday, Liman, who Trump appointed to the federal bench in 2019, came down squarely on the side of the Hochul and the MTA's power to keep the toll."

Federal Judge Lewis Liman issued a 149-page ruling determining that Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy cannot terminate New York's congestion pricing toll program. The toll on vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street was approved by former Secretary Pete Buttigieg in 2024 under Congress's Value Pricing Pilot Program. Duffy had threatened to withhold federal highway funds from New York if Governor Hochul disabled the congestion pricing cameras. Hochul and the MTA sued to preserve the program. Judge Liman ruled that Buttigieg's agreement granted only the MTA authority to charge congestion tolls, not the federal government. Duffy may only terminate the program according to the Biden administration's agreement terms, which gave New York sole control over the toll's fate.

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