MTA, Trump administration argue in federal court over congestion tolling's survival

The MTA pushed back Wednesday against threats by the Trump administration to kill congestion tolling in New York City, telling a Manhattan federal judge the program has been a financial success and the federal government has no legal basis to end it.

Attorneys for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority made their argument in a courtroom hearing before Judge Lewis Lyman of the U.S. Southern District of New York, where the agency is requesting a permanent injunction to keep the current $9 congestion pricing tolls in place.

Attorneys for the U.S Department of Transportation, also at the hearing, countered the tolls were put in place at the end of the Biden    administration and should be canceled by order of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and President Donald Trump.

In May, Lyman issued a preliminary injunction that allowed congestion tolling to continue. The hearing Wednesday ended without a decision by the judge, who set a deadline of Feb. 6 for additional briefs to be filed. 

Congestion tolling has so far brought in $500 million in revenue, an 11% decrease in traffic in Manhattan's central business district and a 6% reduction in greenhouse gases, according to the MTA.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for the MTA, told Lyman the Trump administration does not have the right to reverse the tolling program at its leisure. She said the government is relying on a rarely invoked presidential power known as the "unmistakability doctrine" to cancel the federal agreement for congestion tolling. Kaplan said the doctrine should not apply in the congestion tolling case.

The MTA is funding $15 billion in state bonds with the revenue of congestion tolling for capital projects, including subway accessibility, Kaplan said. Duffy has threatened to withhold funding and eliminate other transportation projects in New York, affecting bonds.

"The government wants people to believe they honor their agreements," ... Kaplan said. "This is President Trump, not King Donald."

She added the money is already spent and ending congestion tolling would have "dire consequences."

Any permanent extension of the program should come though legislation the MTA gets through Congress, an attorney for Duffy told Lyman in response. Ending it is part of President Donald Trump's "new agenda to make the nation more affordable," said Eric Hamilton, an attorney for Duffy and the U.S. Justice Department's civil division.

Hamilton said the program, which he said was launched last January as a pilot program, should not be extended indefinitely.

MTA chairman Janno Lieber, who attended the hearing along with other agency officials, repeated a declaration outside the courthouse made previously by Gov. Kathy Hochul: "The cameras are staying on."

"We know that this program has delivered everything that was promised and that was analyzed and projected: less congestion, faster travel, better air quality, safer streets. The benefits of congestion pricing are, are undeniable," Lieber said. "So, it seems ridiculous that we're still arguing about whether the analysis done years and years ago was actually accurate."

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.