Negotiations between the feuding states of New York and New Jersey over the future of congestion pricing have stalled, possibly setting the stage for another last-minute suspension of the tolling plan that is scheduled to begin next month.
New Jersey filed a lawsuit last year that is widely considered among the most formidable threats to congestion pricing, which aims to fund improvements in New York City’s mass transit system by charging motorists a toll to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.
New Jersey’s suit argues that federal officials allowed New York to move ahead with congestion pricing without fully addressing how the tolling program could shift traffic and pollution in the region. After the parties argued their case in April in Newark, a federal judge urged the parties to settle the case, according to Politico.
But discussions have been rocky, Gov. Kathy Hochul said during an unrelated news conference on Wednesday afternoon. Responding to questions from reporters, Ms. Hochul said it did not seem that New Jersey officials were negotiating “in good faith at this point.”
“We’ve made multiple offers to settle this lawsuit, very generous offers,” Ms. Hochul said, offering few further details.
According to people familiar with the confidential talks, New York’s negotiators have offered New Jersey hundreds of millions of dollars to settle the lawsuit. New York’s representatives have also included additional toll credits for New Jersey drivers in the proposed deal, according to the people, who added that Ms. Hochul spoke with Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey as recently as Wednesday morning to discuss the matter. Mr. Murphy’s office declined to comment.
Randy Mastro, a lawyer representing New Jersey in the lawsuit, has previously requested a decision “as soon as possible” in the case, which is before Judge Leo M. Gordon in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. New Jersey officials filed the suit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration, an agency within that department, for allowing congestion pricing to move forward.
The lawsuit could block congestion pricing even after the program is underway. The tolling plan has already been temporarily halted once before, just weeks from its original start date in June.
At that time, it was Ms. Hochul who abruptly suspended the tolling plan, which was then planning to charge motorists $15. She said she was concerned that the fees would be a financial burden to New Yorkers and could stifle the city’s recovery from the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic.
In November, Ms. Hochul unveiled a retooled plan that lowered the toll that most motorists would pay to $9 and put congestion pricing on a fast track with a Jan. 5 start date.
The reduced tolls would save commuters up to $1,500 annually, Ms. Hochul has said, while also meeting the budget needs of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency which runs New York City’s transit system.
New Jersey’s lawsuit claims that federal transportation officials allowed New York to move ahead without fully studying the environmental impact on New Jersey. The program is also unpopular with New Jersey drivers who do not want to pay the toll when they come into Midtown Manhattan.
The M.T.A., which oversees the congestion pricing program, has repeatedly cited an environmental assessment that was thousands of pages long as proof that the plan’s possible effects had been thoroughly studied.
New Jersey is not the only opponent of congestion pricing, a program that would be the first of its kind in the nation and that has been installed successfully in other cities around the world.
At least nine other lawsuits have been brought against the tolling program in federal and state courts in New York and New Jersey in recent years, including from the Staten Island borough president, the United Federation of Teachers and the Trucking Association of New York, a trade group representing delivery companies.
Incoming President Donald J. Trump also counts himself among the opponents of congestion pricing and has said that he would end the program when he takes office on Jan. 20. He has said that congestion pricing would drive visitors and businesses from Manhattan. To do that, he could try to withdraw federal approval for the plan or threaten to withhold federal funding.
If a court decides on even a slight delay, it would make Mr. Trump’s promise easier to carry out.
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