The U.S. Department of Transportation has terminated approval for New York City’s Central Business District Tolling Program, ending the plan that charges drivers a new toll when entering Manhattan below 60th Street.
This decision rescinds a Nov. 21, 2024, agreement that had allowed tolls under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP), according to a statement from the department.
In a letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy expressed concern that the toll structure ran counter to the principle of maintaining toll-free federal-aid highways.
“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners,” he said in a statement. “Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes. But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways. It’s backwards and unfair.”…