Last Week in Congestion Pricing #2: the MTA speaks out, Democrats split
Author’s note: The sudden end of Congestion Pricing is one of the biggest stories in New York City urbanism in decades. I’m doing a weekly post about the past week in Congestion Pricing news for the rest of the month. Here’s the first edition:
I’m a week behind 😅, so keeping reading for a post is about the week of June 10th ⬇️
#1: Monday, June 10th: MTA says it will keep fighting for Congestion Pricing … but will plan cuts in the meantime
Governor Hochul announced she wanted to pause Congestion Pricing on Wednesday, June 5th. A couple days later Jano Lieber, the CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), replied to Hochul via press conference.
If you want, you can view Jano’s remarks for yourself:
In summary, Lieber responded that:
The MTA’s job is not political analysis. Sometimes, it might not “look at things the same way” as the Governor. The MTA’s job is keeping transportation up for 6 million people daily.
The MTA's capital program will need to be shrunk. Safety-critical repairs will be prioritized.
The MTA’s current capital program runs from 2020 to 2024; the next plan will be coming in a few months. The pause in Congestion Pricing impacts the current capital program.
The MTA wants to minimize the impact on federal funding.
A $3.4 billion federal grant for the 2nd Avenue Subway Phase 2 grant will be at risk without Congestion Pricing revenue.
The MTA is still committed to accessibility work.
In 2022, the MTA settled class action lawsuits by promising to add elevators and ramps to 95 percent of the subway’s stations by 2055
The MTA is not giving up on congestion pricing and will continue to advocate for it.
But, MTA cannot start Congestion Pricing without the state DOT sign-off
The state is one of the three applicants to the federal government to have authority to start the program.
Lieber also said during Q&A he did not plan to resign in protest of Hochul’s decision.
#2: Tuesday, June 11th: Mayor Eric Adams defends Hochul’s decision
Even before Governor’s Hochul’s decision, New York City Mayor Eric Adams had kept a low profile on Congestion Pricing. As one reporter put it at the Mayor’s weekly question-and-answer session, “do you hold yourself accountable at all for the public opposition to congestion pricing -- you haven’t exactly been City of Yes about [it] ... you haven’t been championing this”. The Mayor pleaded deference. Adams responded that “I respect Albany. I know my role, I [know] their role.”
Only about 2 minutes in the roughly 52 minute Q&A session was about congestion pricing, which I think is interesting — despite the national hubbub about Hochul’s decision, Congestion Pricing still sometimes feels like a niche topic.
You can view the full Q&A session here:
#3: Wednesday, June 12th: Legal coalition led by the Comptroller begins exploring lawsuits to force Congestion Pricing
Capping off a lot of online and political speculation on the idea, the New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced via press release a working group to explore “all legal avenues, including multiple lawsuits, to resume New York City’s congestion pricing plan.”
Some background on the Comptroller: it is an elected position that handles the city’s finances. I would consider it one of city government's top roles alongside the Mayor and City Council Speaker. Lander choosing to lead this legal effort is interesting since the pause on Congestion Pricing hurts the MTA’s finances (you can think of the MTA as a state-level corporation) and not the city finances. But, he seems to care enough about this issue to use his Bully Pulpit powers to try and force Congestion Pricing.
The press release points out that the Governor’s decision could break laws. For example, the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act says the state government has to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030. On that law, Lander and co. say:
The Governor and New York State agencies, including NYS Department of Transportation and the MTA, are required to act in a manner consistent with statewide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Plaintiffs can bring suit alleging that failing to enact congestion pricing violates this law.
The press release says the working group will release more details later in the month, perhaps after a June 26 MTA Board vote on the topic.
#4: Wednesday, June 12th: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand says she supports Hochul; other Democrats in Congress tear into decision
According to Politico:
New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Wednesday that she thought the governor “made the right decision.”
“She had a lot of concerns that she wanted to iron out before she implemented the plan,” Gillibrand said, before downplaying the climate implications of the governor’s reversal. “We can make sure we have clean air in New York City, and there’s ways to do it. And I think she’s going to work on it.”
For context, you should know that Gillibrand is from Albany and served as a House member in Upstate New York before becoming a U.S. Senator. She might empathize more with how those New Yorkers feel about Congestion Pricing than those in New York City.
Sure enough, the article also quotes New York City members of Congress Richie Torres and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They both thought the decision was terrible:
“It was as erratic and as chaotic and as arbitrary and capricious of a decision as I’ve ever seen in my career as an elected official,” said Rep. Richie Torres (D-N.Y.), whose district spans much of the Bronx, the New York City borough north of Manhattan. “It’s a disaster. It’s politically, substantively a disaster. There is no good that will come of it.”
#5 Friday, June 14th: Federal Highway Authority confirms Congestion and Environmental benefits of Congestion Pricing
Even before the pause on Congestion Pricing, the MTA was battling many lawsuits against the program. To push back on some of those claims, the MTA asked the Federal Highway Authority (FHWA) to create an updated report on Congestion Pricing. On Friday, they released that report. It affirmed that “the MTA's $15 toll to drive into the Manhattan Central Business District will be great for the environment and will reduce congestion by 17 percent”. No re-do of the Environmental Assessment would be needed to make that conclusion.
To me, the report is a reminder that the contentious part of Congestion Pricing is who has to pay for tolls and the politics of that reality, not the actual efficacy of the program.
As Dave Colon at Streetsblog explains, this report would have been one of the last hurdles to clear before implementing Congestion Pricing. The other would be signing the "Value Pricing Pilot Program" (VPPP) agreement. Federal, state, and city authorities need to sign the VPPP agreement. Hochul’s pause effectively bans state authorities from signing the VPPP, stalling the whole process.