The Trump Administration announced Wednesday it is killing the NYC congestion pricing program, sparking an immediate legal effort by the MTA to block the move by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

MTA chairman Janno Lieber said in a statement that the tolls will not be turned off without a court order.

“Today, the MTA filed papers in federal court to ensure that the highly successful program – which has already dramatically reduced congestion, bringing reduced traffic and faster travel times, while increasing speeds for buses and emergency vehicles – will continue notwithstanding this baseless effort to snatch those benefits away from the millions of mass transit users, pedestrians and, especially, the drivers who come to the Manhattan Central Business District,” Lieber said.

The MTA’s move came quickly on the heels of an announcement by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that the federal government was withdrawing its approval of the plan. The president has long voiced opposition to congestion tolling, under which most drivers are paying $9 a day for traveling south of 60th Street in Manhattan.

“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” Duffy said. “Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes,” Duffy wrote.

“But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways,” he said. “It’s backwards and unfair.”

In a statement, Gov. Hochul called congestion pricing a success and said she would defend it.

“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king,” Hochul said. “The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”

In a letter — which appeared online at the New York Post before it was sent to its intended recipient, Hochul — Duffy told the governor that he was revoking the federal government’s authorization for the program under the so-called the Value Pricing Pilot Program, an authorization that was given by the Biden DOT in December.

“I have concluded that the scope of this pilot project as approved exceeds the authority authorized by congress under the VPPP,” Duffy wrote.

The Value Pricing Pilot Program agreement, signed in the waning days of 2024 by the state, local and federal departments of transportation, was the final sign-off required to authorize congestion pricing. In Wednesday’s statement, the federal DOT argued that Congestion Pricing was not allowed because it did not do enough to curb congestion.

“The toll rate was set primarily to raise revenue for transit, rather than at an amount needed to reduce congestion,” read a statement released by the department. “By doing so, the pilot runs contrary to the purpose of the VPPP, which is to impose tolls for congestion reduction – not transit revenue generation.”

Congestion pricing, approved by state lawmakers in 2019, is meant to reduce traffic congestion in Midtown and lower Manhattan while also raising a revenue stream that would allow the MTA to issue $15 billion in bonds to fund its 2019-2024 capital program.

It was not immediately clear what legal authority if any the Trump administration has to renege on the December VPPP agreement.

“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,” the MTA’s Lieber said.

The MTA’s 51 page response, in a suit filed Wednesday, states the toll will continue, absent a court order.

“To be clear, while the Trump Administration has purported to unlawfully terminate the VPPP agreement, its actions—as a mere signatory to a multi-party agreement—obviously do not require plaintiffs to cease operation of the program,” attorneys for the transit agency wrote. “The status quo is that congestion pricing continues, and unless and until a court orders otherwise, plaintiffs will continue to operate the program as required by New York law.”

The suit calls the surprise revocation unconstitutional, and says there is no legal basis for the Trump administration’s actions.

The “purported” termination of the program, they add, “is in open disregard of a host of federal statutes and regulations, not to mention the MTA and [Triborough Bridge Authority’s] rights under the United States Constitution.”

The suit also claims the move to kill congestion pricing stands in stark contrast to previous Donald Trump and Duffy statements lauding state’s rights.

Congestion pricing has been in effect since Jan. 5. Preliminary data collected by the cameras used to assess the toll have shown massive decreases in cross-river travel times, even if overall traffic into the tolling zone has decreased by a modest 5%.

According to the MTA’s court filings, $879 million in short term bonds at least partially reliant on congestion pricing revenue have already been issued by the agency.

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