Feds Push Back NYC Congestion Pricing Deadline By 30 Days

NEW YORK CITY — The Trump administration announced on Thursday it would extend its deadline for the MTA to end congestion pricing for another 30 days.

President Donald Trump had initially given the MTA until Friday to end the program and tolls to allow for an "orderly cessation."

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in a post on X wrote he was putting New York "on notice."

“Your refusal to end cordon pricing and your open disrespect towards the federal government is unacceptable,” using transportation jargon to describe the tolling program, he wrote. “Your unlawful pricing scheme charges working-class citizens to use roads their federal tax dollars already paid to build.”

“We will provide New York with a 30-day extension as discussions continue. Know that the billions of dollars the federal government sends to New York are not a blank check. Continued noncompliance will not be taken lightly,” Duffy added.

It is unknown at this time how a federal shutdown of congestion pricing could look like.

In an interview with CBS News on Tuesday, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said he believes the congestion tolls will continue.

"Things don't change until a court orders it, and that hasn't taken place. We don't expect it will because we are on pretty strong legal footing," the MTA chief told the outlet.

Lieber added that there won't be an end to the program because it has gone "through every hoop on the way to getting that federal approval, which can't be unilaterally rescinded."

"The deadline will come and go, and the congestion pricing program will continue to deliver a much better traffic environment for New York and economic benefits as well," he said.

Beginning on Jan. 5, congestion pricing imposed a $9 charge on drivers to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street.

The purpose of the plan is to reduce gridlock in Manhattan's busiest areas and encourage public transit use, officials said.

The plan was expected to generate more than $15 billion for public transportation upgrades in New York City, the MTA said.

The MTA collected over $48 million in tolls paid during the first month of congestion pricing, Patch previously reported.