Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

New Jersey sues federal highway officials in bid to stop New York City's plan to charge big tolls

New Jersey has filed a federal lawsuit aimed at stopping New York’s plan to charge big tolls to drive into the most visited parts of Manhattan

Via AP news wire
Friday 21 July 2023 18:00 EDT
Manhattan Tolls NJ Lawsuit
Manhattan Tolls NJ Lawsuit (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

New Jersey has filed a federal lawsuit aimed at stopping New York's plan to charge big tolls to drive into the most visited parts of Manhattan, arguing that New Jersey residents and towns will bear the brunt without benefiting.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced his state's plans on Friday. The lawsuit against the Federal Highway Administration claims the agency's approval of the plan last month was “misguided” and violates the National Environmental Policy Act. New Jersey also wants a more comprehensive environmental study conducted for the plan.

New York officials have said the first-in-the-nation plan is part of an effort to reduce traffic, to improve air quality and to raise funds for the city’s public transit system. Murphy, though, said commuters headed in to the city will instead find different ways to avoid paying higher tolls, resulting in more traffic and more pollution.

“(The FHA) finding that the MTA congestion pricing program will not have any significant impacts is an error," Murphy, said. The Democratic governor also called the tolls “anti-environmental, anti-commuter, and anti-business.”

The federal Department of Transportation declined to comment on the lawsuit, but the MTA called it “baseless."

John J. McCarthy, the MTA's external relations chief, said the 4,000-page Environmental Assessment performed by the MTA, New York State DOT and New York City DOT “was supervised at every stage and specifically approved by the Biden administration." The MTA statement also said the review covered “every conceivable potential traffic, air quality, social and economic effect,” and responded to more than 80,000 comments and submissions.

People headed into Manhattan already pay big tolls to use many of the bridges and tunnels connecting commuters across the Hudson, East and Harlem Rivers. The special tolls for the southern half of Manhattan would come on top of those existing charges. Taxi and car service drivers have objected to the plan, saying it would make fares unaffordable.

The new tolls are expected to generate another $1 billion yearly, which would be used to finance upgrading the subway, bus and commuter rail systems operated by the MTA.

The state Legislature approved a conceptual plan for congestion pricing back in 2019, but the coronavirus pandemic combined with a lack of guidance from federal regulators stalled the project.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in