Truckers applaud as USDOT terminates approval for NYC’s controversial congestion tolling program
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has rescinded approval for a congestion tolling program recently deployed in New York City.
On February 19, USDOT announced that the Federal Highway Administration “terminated approval” of a congestion toll pilot program that went into effect in Manhattan below 60th Street on January 5, 2025.
In a press release announcing the agency’s push to end the congestion tolling program, USDOT pointed out that “except for limited exceptions allowed by Congress, highways constructed with Federal-aid highway funds cannot be tolled.”
Officials say that the Federal Highway Administration will “work with the project sponsors on an orderly termination of the tolls.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy pointed to two major reasons for the agency’s decision to “effectively end” NYC’s tolling authority:
- “The scope of the New York’s Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP) is unprecedented and provides no toll-free option for many drivers who want or need to travel by vehicle in this major urbanized area.”
- “The toll rate was set primarily to raise revenue for transit, rather than at an amount needed to reduce congestion. 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.”
Duffy also pointed to the impact of the congestion tolling program on small businesses and trucking as a reason to rescind tolling authority in NYC.
“New York State’s congestion pricing plan is a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” said Duffy. “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. 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. It’s backwards and unfair. The program also hurts small businesses in New York that rely on customers from New Jersey and Connecticut. Finally, it impedes the flow of commerce into New York by increasing costs for trucks, which in turn could make goods more expensive for consumer. Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn’t be reserved for an elite few.”
The NYC congestion pricing program was unpopular with many in in the trucking community, who called the program unconstitutional and said that the trucking industry was unfairly targeted by the tolls.
Trucking trade group Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) applauded the move by USDOT to kill the congestion toll program.
“OOIDA and the thousands of small business truckers who operate in New York City welcome USDOT’s decision to rescind tolling authority for New York‘s congestion pricing plan. Truckers often have very little control over their schedules, so this congestion pricing plan is particularly problematic for owner-operators and independent drivers. We routinely have no other choice than to drive through metropolitan areas during periods of high congestion because of the rigidity of current federal hours of service requirements. Additionally, shippers and receivers generally have little regard for a driver’s schedule, frequently requiring loading and unloading to occur at times when nearby roads are most congested. New York City’s congestion pricing plan was anti-trucker to begin with and we will continue fighting to ensure it doesn’t come back. Beyond New York City, we encourage the Trump Administration and Congress to fight the expansion of tolling across the country,” said OOIDA President Todd Spencer.