New Jersey officials vow to keep congestion pricing fight alive days before plan is set to begin
FORT LEE, N.J. — We're just days away from the start of congestion pricing, which the MTA says will begin as planned on Sunday, but New Jersey officials are vowing to keep the fight alive to stop it.
Lawsuits from the state of New Jersey are moving forward. Attorneys for the state have asked a judge for a temporary restraining order to put the brakes on the plan before Sunday. A hearing is set for Friday afternoon.
N.J. officials cite health concerns over expected surge in GWB traffic
Congressman Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat and staunch opponent of congestion pricing, joined local officials next to the George Washington Bridge on Thursday.
He called the plan a "lung tax," referring to the expected surge in traffic that will go over the GWB as drivers look to avoid paying the $9 fee to drive in Manhattan below 60th Street.
"It puts the health of our children and families at risk here in northern New Jersey," he said.
"Can you imagine when all those trucks will be lined up and idling, what'll happen to the children, their parents, their families in this district?" said New Jersey Assemblywoman Shama Haider.
"It's a new year, and yet New York is up to the same old congestion tax strategy," Gottheimer said.
MTA slams transit management by N.J. politicians
MTA officials fired back across the Hudson, saying in a statement, "Nobody in their right mind should take transportation advice from the New Jersey politicians who have woefully failed to manage transit in their state—while also endorsing higher tolls on their own roads and on Port Authority bridges and tunnels, and higher fares on NJ Transit. Endless litigation over New York's program to improve its transit and reduce traffic is the height of hypocrisy."
New Jersey officials accused the MTA of trying to make up for its own mismanagement by taxing drivers.
Transit advocates, however, say congestion pricing is a win for drivers and transit riders.
"Before congestion pricing started in London and Stockholm, in other places where it's been wildly successful, there was always doubt. Right after the doubt came the understanding that it really is a great idea," said Lisa Daglian with the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
"I really think that we need to fund public transit over automobile traffic. I think automobile traffic is contributing to climate change," Washington Heights resident Michael Chase said.
The MTA is advising commuters to make sure their E-ZPass accounts are up to date, as those without could end up paying 50% higher rates during peak hours.
Can congestion pricing still be stopped?
Michael Gerrard, a professor of environmental law at Columbia Law School, says if a judge issues the temporary restraining order requested by New Jersey attorneys, "Then it may be that the MTA would seek an emergency hearing before the court of appeals ... but it would be an extraordinary circumstance to get an appeal that quickly."
The biggest deadline is Jan. 20, as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to kill the plan once he's inaugurated.
"If congestion pricing is in place, I don't think that the new president would have the power to stop it, although he might try," Gerrard said.
