Congestion pricing is moving forward at full speed.
The Federal Highway Administration on Thursday approved the final bureaucratic steps for an improved program that will impose a $9 toll on cars entering Manhattan's 60th Street and below starting Jan. 5.
The agreement gives the MTA permission to collect congestion fees under the federal government's Value Pricing Pilot Program.
The federal government's approval comes after Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA officials reinstated congestion pricing after a months-long “hiatus.”
The new plan will reduce the base price from $15 to $9, at least initially.
The fee is expected to increase to $12 in 2028 and reach the full $15 by 2031.
But the hated paid plans are facing lawsuits, fierce opposition from many local lawmakers and President-elect Trump, who vowed to “cancel” the plans in his first week in the White House. The future remains in doubt.
