New Jersey’s Senators Push Back on Congestion Pricing

Why It Matters

The tolling program, which would be the first of its kind in the nation, is intended to reduce traffic by charging drivers to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan.

Many transit advocates, community leaders and urban planning experts in New York have celebrated the progress made toward congestion pricing this month, saying it was long overdue.

The loudest opposition to the program has come from New Jersey. Mr. Menendez and Mr. Booker have joined their state’s governor, Phil Murphy, a Democrat, and several members of the House of Representatives in speaking out against the plan, including Representative Josh Gottheimer, who has been one of its staunchest critics, and Representative Mikie Sherrill, who called it “an unfair hit against New Jersey families.”

Notably, The Star-Ledger of Newark published an editorial on Sunday admonishing the state’s politicians for trying to stop what its editorial board described as “a monumental step in the fight to save the environment.”

Background

Mr. Murphy has threatened legal action if the plan continues to advance, and last year he took his case directly to President Biden, complaining about the added costs for drivers and the inability of the state’s existing mass transit infrastructure, New Jersey Transit and the PATH train, to handle extra riders.

Mr. Murphy on Monday also unveiled an advertising campaign criticizing the program, complete with billboards near interstate crossings.

Other opponents of congestion pricing have included taxi drivers and Lyft and Uber drivers, who worry that fare increases triggered by the tolls could slash demand for taxis and for-hire rides by up to 17 percent.

What’s Next

The M.T.A. on Friday released a report that shows the clearest picture of how much the tolls may cost and who may be spared from paying.

The Federal Highway Administration has tentatively approved the plan, and the public now has until June 12 to review the report — which is tens of thousands of pages long — before the federal government gives the document its final OK, paving the way for the M.T.A. to come up with toll rates.

Once that happens, the M.T.A. says the program, which would affect drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, could begin as soon as spring 2024.

Tracey Tully contributed reporting.