Is Trump’s Reversal of Congestion Pricing Legal?

In a piece for Slate, Henry Grabar analyzes the Trump administration’s legal defense for its decision to revoke federal approval for New York City’s congestion pricing program, a move decried by transit activists and New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

In a letter to the governor, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed to “the lack of toll-free alternative routes and the program’s focus on raising money for mass transit” as reasons to rescind approval.

According to Grabar, the lack of free alternatives is a moot point. “It’s an unsupported theory that seems to open up the question of whether New York must build a free bridge to New Jersey, since all six of the crossings between the states have always been tolled,” Grabar points out.

Roderick Hills Jr., an expert in administrative law at New York University, told Grabar that the reversal is “surprisingly unjustified,” adding, “It’s a complete fabrication devoid of any support in the statutes.”

One silver lining: the decision seems to have shored up approval for the program — and for Kathy Hochul, who last year put a pause on the program for six months until coming up with a lower toll cost. Law professor Greg Shill says the city should “seize the levers it already controls” to “maximize the welfare of its own people” through interventions it can control like bus lanes, traffic enforcement, bike lanes, and pedestrian infrastructure.