NJ: Kill congestion pricing or else, N.J. gov candidate threatens MTA

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., threw down the gauntlet at the MTA Thursday. Turn off congestion pricing cameras and toll readers or else.

Friday is the deadline that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy set for ending toll collection of the $9 fee to enter Manhattan after he pulled a November 2024 approval that let the program start in January.

With the George Washington Bridge in the background in Fort Lee, Gottheimer challenged the MTA to comply with the federal deadline to turn off the cameras and toll readers, using the same Jersey snark he employed at his first press conference opposing congestion pricing.

“Even when they get a federal directive, they give the federal government the finger,” he said about MTA statements earlier this week that congestion pricing would continue.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul gave the MTA response last month when Duffy pulled the proposal, saying the state will “see you in court” and by filing a lawsuit challenging the USDOT action in federal court in New York.

Since then, the cameras and readers have remained on and MTA CEO Janno Lieber said they will stay on until a court order says otherwise.

That doesn’t sit well with Gottheimer, who said thousands of New Jersey drivers will continue to pay what he said is an unnecessary tax.

He outlined four steps he is asking New Jersey and the state E-ZPass consortium to take if the MTA violates the Friday deadline to shut off congestion pricing.

“I’ll urge Attorney General Platkin to pursue any action to stop it and go to court,” he said.

Gottheimer said he’ll ask the state Department of Transportation to bill New York’s DOT and demand reimbursement for all congestion pricing fees paid by New Jersey drivers after March 21. He urged NJDOT to invoice New York weekly.

He plans to send a letter to the New Jersey E-ZPass consortium asking them to stop charging drivers the congestion pricing fee to go south of 60th street after March 21.

“E-ZPass should stop collecting it,” he said.

He also called on New York E-ZPass to “fix their broken system” that makes it difficult for a New Jersey driver to appeal when those E-ZPass customers have been charged the $13.50 non-E-ZPass toll rate.

“Currently, only New York drivers can challenge incorrect charges, not New Jersey E-ZPass holders,” he said.

Congestion pricing bills received by readers who sent them to NJ Advance Media show no place on the form letter to dispute or appeal the bill because they are E-ZPass customers.

He also suggested families track all congestion pricing charges paid after March 21.

Last month, Gottheimer called on state residents to track how much they’re paying in congestion pricing fees after Duffy pulled the approvals on Feb. 19.

MTA CEO Janno Lieber said at a Tuesday press conference that the MTA is doing what normally happens in litigation- the program keeps going while the suit is heard in court.

“It’s very basic litigation, when you have a dispute, the status quo stays unless one party gets an injunction,” he said “Things won’t change until the court orders it and we don’t expect it.”

Federal Highway Administration officials did not respond to an email asking what the agency would do if New York fails to end congestion pricing on Friday.

Friday’s deadline “will come and go and congestion pricing will continue to deliver a much better traffic environment,” Lieber said.

Meanwhile, New York State attorney general Letitia James filed a motion on Wednesday to join the MTA’s lawsuit challenging the USDOT’s termination of November 2024 approval that allowed congestion pricing to start on Jan 5.

James argued that decision constitutes a direct infringement of the state DOT’s authority to implement the 2019 Traffic Mobility Act that authorized the congestion pricing program, and to maintain the benefits of congestion pricing for New Yorkers.

Congestion pricing, which was made a New York state law in 2019, was created to help reduce traffic, crashes and air pollution in Manhattan and raise $1 billion annually for subway, bus and commuter rail projects. It is the first such program in the nation.

The congestion pricing program is already furthering the goals set out in the act by providing significant reductions in traffic congestion and revenue for public transit improvements, she wrote.

That follows a March 4 motion by the Riders Alliance and Sierra Club to intervene in the case on the side of the MTA to preserve congestion pricing.

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