In its legal fight against the administration of US President Donald Trump, which had threatened to withhold federal funding from New York state unless the city implemented a congestion pricing program, New York City received a temporary relief.
As the administration and state-level officials battle the future of congestion pricing, United States District Judge Lewis Liman held the hearing on the matter on Tuesday and issued a temporary restraining order.
Sean Duffy, the secretary of transportation for the US, stated a day earlier that he thought the state would withhold state government approvals, which would result in the state’s highway and transit projects being delayed.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), which operates New York City’s mass transit system as a state-level agency, “showed a likelihood of success,” according to the judge, despite the federal administration’s objections.
According to the New York Times newspaper, the courts alleged that this was because state, local, and federal agencies had already reviewed the plan.
Congestion relief has been thoroughly checked and is completely legal. The Riders Alliance, a transportation advocacy organization, has been inundated with plausible arguments against the program, and now the increasingly bizarre theories are also failing, according to Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the organization.
Governor of New York Kathy Hochul referred to the judge’s ruling as “a massive victory” for commuters in New York.
Congestion pricing is legal, it’s effective, and we’re keeping the cameras on, the governor’s office said in a statement. However, a court has blocked the Trump Administration from retaliating against New York for reducing traffic and investing in transit.
“It’s really upsetting that it even started at this.” According to Alexa Sledge, communications director for the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, the federal government is trying to enact its own policy and trying to blackmail New York state when it doesn’t follow their [the US Department of Transportation’s] lead.
The program was first introduced in January in New York. Driving during high traffic hours in some parts of Manhattan costs $ 9 per day. The state created the program in an effort to reduce traffic in the state’s most populous city and raise money for NYC’s mass transit system.
“New York State should be able to have their own streets and make their own laws. And so, he said, “I hope this can be the end of this.”
achieving its objectives
Many of its objectives have been met since the program started earlier this year. Subway and bus ridership increased by 9% and by 6% within a month of congestion pricing. 11 percent decreased traffic.
Congestion pricing predicted in March that the system would generate $500 million in revenue, which would fund a number of new transit-system projects, including station upgrades and zero-emissions buses. A Siena College poll at the time found that 35% of New Yorkers wanted to end the program, while 42% of New Yorkers wanted to keep it.
Source: Aljazeera
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