--- title: What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing description: Just one month after its rollout, congestion pricing in New York City may be halted. canonical: https://time.com/7259564/trump-congestion-pricing-nyc-funding/ author: Solcyré Burga article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-02-19T22:45:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-10T23:46:29.587Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing og:description: Just one month after its rollout, congestion pricing in New York City may be halted. og:url: https://time.com/7259564/trump-congestion-pricing-nyc-funding/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f13af9d2d105088/6998c4267323af5b2f2bc439/GettyImages-2200228920.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Entering Congestion Zone sign, New York, New York og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing twitter:description: Just one month after its rollout, congestion pricing in New York City may be halted. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f13af9d2d105088/6998c4267323af5b2f2bc439/GettyImages-2200228920.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Solcyré Burga](https://time.com/author/solcyre-burga/)  ## Solcyré Burga Reporter Feb 19, 2025 10:45 PM UTC  Warning sign that Enforcement Zone is ahead on 11th Avenue in New York City indicates that vehicles will be entering the congestion relief zone, or CRZ. Deb Cohn-Orbach—UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Warning sign that Enforcement Zone is ahead on 11th Avenue in New York City indicates that vehicles will be entering the congestion relief zone, or CRZ. Deb Cohn-Orbach—UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Deb Cohn-Orbach—UCG/Universal Images Group  by [Solcyré Burga](https://time.com/author/solcyre-burga/)  ## Solcyré Burga Reporter Feb 19, 2025 10:45 PM UTC The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration moved to end New York’s congestion pricing on Wednesday, just one month after the program had been rolled out. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy [delivered](https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-terminates-tolling-approval-new-york-citys-cordon) the news in a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, rescinding the approval of the program. The decision rolled back a previous agreement between Hochul and the agency for the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP) that charged drivers tolls for coming into Manhattan. "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” The White House [posted on X](https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1892295984928993698?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) on Wednesday accompanied by an image of Trump wearing a crown on a fake TIME-inspired magazine cover. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) called the program “unprecedented” in scope and cited the lack of a toll-free option for drivers as the reason for its impending termination. Duffy also said that since the toll rate was chosen to increase revenue for transportation as opposed to reducing congestion, the “pilot runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP.” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy [thanked](https://x.com/GovMurphy/status/1892296129246548030?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) President Trump and Secretary Duffy in a statement Wednesday, but Gov. Hochul indicated that legal action against the President is already in motion. “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” she [said on X in response](https://x.com/GovKathyHochul/status/1892294071961448664?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet). Here’s what to know. ## When did NYC congestion pricing start? The VPPP was first approved by lawmakers in 2019, but proponents had to wait for a federal environmental review. The program was later approved by the Biden Administration last year, on Nov. 21, but congestion pricing did not officially begin until Jan. 5\. The initial summer rollout of the program was paused in June due to concerns about the toll’s impact on the local economy. A revised version of congestion pricing lowered the toll from $15 to $9\. ## How is NYC congestion pricing funded? Under congestion prices, drivers are charged $9 when they enter Manhattan’s Congestion Relief Zone, which falls below 60th Street, between 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. That means that drivers traveling through the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, and Queensboro bridges, and the Holland, Hugh L. Carey, and Queens Midtown tunnels, will have to pay the higher toll price. **Read More**: [_What the FAA Layoffs Mean for Air Safety_](https://time.com/7258352/faa-layoffs-trump-musk-air-safety/) The Federal Highway Administration said Wednesday that it would work with the leaders behind the project to oversee an “orderly termination of the tolls,” though the timeline for that is unclear. ## How has Hochul responded? In response, New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) filed a [federal lawsuit](https://newjerseymonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MTA-congestion-pricing-suit.pdf) on Wednesday to keep the program in place. “It’s mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review—and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program—USDOT would seek to totally reverse course,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber [in a statement](https://x.com/MTA/status/1892284260448436388) on X. Hochul said the first-in-the nation program has already benefitted the city’s transportation system, pointing to faster commute times, greater “foot traffic” to local businesses, and an increase in yellow cab trips. Public transportation ridership has also increased, Hochul said in a [statement](https://x.com/GovKathyHochul/status/1892294071961448664?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) on X. “Congestion pricing is a meticulously studied, globally-proven program that is enshrined in New York State law,” said Julie Tighe, President of the NY League of Conservation Voters. “We need the federal government to be a partner in solving congestion pricing, not a roadblock. New Yorkers deserve relief from traffic, better transit, and cleaner air—we will keep fighting for it every day.” ## Can Trump stop congestion pricing? Congestion pricing has been subject to lawsuits before by neighboring New Jersey, which sought to stop the program because it placed an unfair burden on its residents. Murphy [wrote](https://www.instagram.com/p/DFD-4W2vTpG/?img%5Findex=1&igsh=dms4czJqbzgzMjZ4) to Trump—who had promised to end congestion pricing on the campaign trail—on his first day in office, asking the President to give congestion pricing the “close look it deserved.” **Read More**: [_President Trump Suggests He’s Above the Law in Social Media Post Invoking Napoleon_](https://time.com/7226686/trump-napoleon-post-saves-country-violate-law-reactions-constitutional-crisis/) But others have expressed skepticism at whether the President can actually stop congestion pricing. Congressman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, criticized the Department of Transportation, arguing that the agency bears no authority to pause the program. “The Value Pricing Program is solidly established under federal law, and its approval cannot be arbitrarily revoked, especially when it is clearly delivering tangible benefits,” Nadler [said](https://x.com/RepJerryNadler/status/1892268755243188241) on X on Wednesday. “Mr. President, we’ll see you in court.” The MTA called the Administration’s decision to terminate the program unlawful, arguing that the Trump Administration took action without an environmental review on the effects of pausing VPPP. “If FHWA had the right to unilaterally terminate a VPPP program that had already been approved and implemented, it would create uncertainty around the future of such programs any time leadership at FHWA, USDOT, or the White House changed—uncertainty that may make it difficult to issue bonds for other projects and would clearly undermine the purposes of the VPPP,” the [legal complaint](https://newjerseymonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MTA-congestion-pricing-suit.pdf) says. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7259564/trump-congestion-pricing-nyc-funding/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7259564/trump-congestion-pricing-nyc-funding/"},"headline":"What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing","datePublished":"2025-02-19T22:45:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-10T23:46:29.587Z","description":"Just one month after its rollout, congestion pricing in New York City may be halted.","url":"https://time.com/7259564/trump-congestion-pricing-nyc-funding/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk","News desk edits"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f13af9d2d105088/6998c4267323af5b2f2bc439/GettyImages-2200228920.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Solcyré Burga","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/solcyre-burga/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2f13af9d2d105088/6998c4267323af5b2f2bc439/GettyImages-2200228920.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Entering Congestion Zone sign, New York, New York","caption":"Entering Congestion Zone sign, New York, New York","creditText":"Deb Cohn-Orbach—UCG/Universal Images Group","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7259564/trump-congestion-pricing-nyc-funding/","name":"What Trump Has Said About NYC Congestion Pricing"}}]}] ```