initially granted approval for<\/a> in November, implemented a $9 toll on cars entering Manhattan to reduce congestion on highways and air pollution. Hochul originally planned a $15 toll before lowering it.\u00a0<\/p>\nHochul and other New York officials have argued that the plan has worked, reducing crowding on highways, speeding up travel times and leading to more people choosing alternative ways to get around. But the Trump administration has slammed the program as raising costs for working-class Americans and small-business owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trump declared that New York was \u201csaved\u201d after announcing his decision to end the program. Duffy noted in his letter Monday that all roads constructed using federal aid highway funds must be toll-free unless an exception is granted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duffy said the FHWA will start taking measures against the state and city on May 28 if it determines the state to still be out of compliance. The measures would last until New York agrees to end congestion pricing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The possible measures include not allowing any further advance construction authorization or environmental approvals for projects within Manhattan except for those deemed essential for public safety. If the noncompliance continues, those measures could be expanded to all FHWA funds for projects in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The measures could also be expanded to other parts of New York state if noncompliance continues, the letter says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
New York officials don\u2019t appear to be showing signs of backing down, as the city\u2019s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has filed a lawsuit to keep the program in place. A proposed briefing schedule for the case could have the program continuing through the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn case there were any doubts, MTA, State and City reaffirmed in a court filing that congestion pricing is here to stay and that the arguments Secretary Duffy made trying to stop it have zero merit,\u201d John J. McCarthy, the chief of the MTA\u2019s policy and external relations, told The Hill in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the governor told The Hill that they believe the program is working.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTraffic is down, business is up, and the cameras are staying on,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is threatening to cut off approval and funding for construction projects in New York City if the state\u2019s congestion pricing program continues after the Trump administration\u2019s deadline for it to end passed Sunday.\u00a0 Duffy sent a letter to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Monday warning of \u201cserious consequences\u201d if the program continues despite the Trump administration having revoked the federal government\u2019s approval for it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1098"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1099,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1098\/revisions\/1099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gogetterlifestylebrand.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}