Long lines of cars and trucks wait in traffic with a view of the Empire State Building miles away from the Lincoln Tunnel in New York City on Nov. 1, 2012. A federal appeals court on Saturday denied the state of New Jersey’s last-ditch bid to halt the city’s implementation of congestion pricing tolls. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
License PhotoJan. 4 (UPI) — A federal appellate court on Saturday rejected a last-ditch effort by the state of New Jersey to stop the imminent implementation of $9 “congestion pricing” tolls for drivers entering Manhattan during peak hours.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit turned aside New Jersey’s efforts to obtain a temporary restraining order against plans by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to begin the program as soon as Sunday morning, The Gothamist and Bergen Daily Record reported.
The ruling came after lawyers argued their cases in front of the federal panel late into Friday night in the wake of a similar decision denying New Jersey’s request for a retraining order issued earlier in the day by District Court Judge Leo Gordon.
Under the congestion pricing plan, starting on Sunday passenger vehicles entering the “congestion relief zone” in Manhattan, defined as local streets and avenues at or below 60th Street, will be charged a $9 toll during peak hours. The tolls will apply at four tunnels leading into Manhattan — the Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel, Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and Queens Midtown Tunnel.
The MTA says the increased tolls will result in 100,000 fewer vehicles entering the zone every day, “relieving crowding in what is today the most congested district in the United States.”
Revenue from the program is to be funneled into New York City’s transit system where it will benefit “millions of daily transit riders” in the form of more accessible stations, modern signal systems, hundreds of new electric buses and other critical improvements “that keep our system in good working condition and make taking mass transit more comfortable,” the agency says.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and other state leaders, however, insist the program is illegal and unfair to their residents who commute daily into Manhattan for work or recreation.
“We are disappointed that the courts are allowing congestion pricing to take effect tomorrow despite agreeing that its approval violated the law and arbitrarily shortchanged New Jersey residents,” Murphy spokeswoman Natalie Hamilton said in a statement to media outlets. “We will continue fighting against this unfair and unpopular scheme.”
In his original ruling issued on Monday, Gordon sought more clarifications from federal transportation officials who approved the pricing plan but did not order it halted in the meantime.
“Despite the best efforts of the State of New Jersey trying to thwart New York’s ability to reduce congestion on our streets while making long-overdue investments in public transit, our position has prevailed in court on nearly every issue,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement issued Monday while vowing that congestion pricing would proceed as planned on Sunday.
