NYC congestion pricing plan gets final federal approval, report says

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — New York City’s congestion pricing program has been granted permission by the Federal Highway Administration to proceed as planned, according to a recent report. And the completion of this final bureaucratic hurdle means that most drivers will start paying $9 to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan as soon as Jan. 5.

According to The New York Times, Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s updated plan got the federal OK on Thursday, and the MTA will oversee it.

Last week, Hochul announced that the controversial tolling program would be brought back with a $9 charge for drivers when entering the Central Business District (CBD), which is any surface street in Manhattan south of 60th Street.

Originally, drivers would have been charged $15 for entering the CBD. Hochul characterized her initial opposition to the program as a concern over the high cost for working New Yorkers.

“As governor, it is my job to make decisions that take into account the needs of all working New Yorkers. I made the decision to put the congestion pricing program on pause while we devised a different path forward,” Hochul said when she announced the plan’s return.

This new version of congestion pricing will also lower the tolls for drivers entering Manhattan after 9 p.m., to encourage more nighttime deliveries in the city.

The plan is now scheduled to start just after midnight on Jan. 5. But despite this final government approval, congestion pricing could still be undone, even after its start date. At least nine lawsuits over the plan have been filed by opponents, The Times reported. President-elect Donald J. Trump has also threatened to stop congestion pricing as one of his first acts in office.