Federal Highway Administration approves plan to fast-track NYC congestion pricing

Transportation officials on Friday outlined how they will fast-track the MTA’s long-delayed congestion pricing plan, which will charge new tolls for Manhattan drivers.

The Federal Highway Administration on Friday approved a plan developed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New York City and state transportation officials to conduct an environmental assessment for the MTA’s "Central Business District Tolling" program. It would set as-of-yet unspecified tolls for cars driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan.

Approved in 2019, the congestion pricing effort aims to generate $1 billion in annual revenue to be used on transportation infrastructure investments.

The plan calls for an expedited 16-month environmental assessment that will include more than 20 meetings and other outreach efforts in impacted communities.

Officials said the review will consider the impact on "traffic congestion, transit, air quality and numerous other environmental indicators in 28 counties across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut."

"We are operating on an extraordinarily expedited and aggressive environmental review time frame, yet one that will be painstakingly thorough, and we hope can serve as a model for other U.S. communities considering similar congestion pricing systems," MTA acting chairman and Chief Executive Officer Janno Lieber said in a statement.

The congestion pricing plan initially was expected to be in place by the beginning of this year, but MTA officials accused former President Donald Trump’s administration of deliberately holding it up, and delaying it by 20 months. In March, President Joe Biden’s transportation department gave the MTA the needed approvals to move ahead with the plan, which is now expected to be in place by 2023.

Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took issue with the new timeline, which he called "ridiculous." He wants the MTA to move faster on the plan. "Do I buy that timeline? No," de Blasio said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

MTA spokesman Ken Lovett said the transit authority was "mystified" by de Blasio’s remarks about the timeline, which he noted was developed over several months in coordination with the mayor’s own transportation team.

Lovett accused de Blasio of "throwing his own DOT professionals under the bus" and further delaying the plan by not getting behind it quickly enough.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.