Trump Admin Gives NYC 30-Day Extension to Kill Congestion Pricing

By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Mar 21, 2025

The Trump administration has given New York City a 30-day extension to end congestion pricing after it had previously given the MTA until March 21 to stop collecting tolls.

In an X post yesterday, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, “[The federal government] will provide New York with a 30-day extension as discussions continue.”

In the post, Duffy – directly addressing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul – said, “the federal government and @POTUS are putting New York on notice. Your refusal to end cordon pricing and your open disrespect towards the federal government is unacceptable. Just as your high tolls and no free road option are a slap in the face to hard working Americans, your refusal to approve two vital pipelines that will lower fuel costs by 50% are against the public’s best interests. Your unlawful pricing scheme charges working-class citizens to use roads their federal tax dollars already paid to build.”

Duffy concluded the post by saying that the “billions of dollars the federal government sends to New York are not a blank check,” and that “Continued noncompliance will not be taken lightly.”

Since Jan. 5, vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone in Manhattan — local streets and avenues at or below 60th Street — have been getting charged a $9 congestion toll during peak hours (5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends). Large trucks are paying $21.60, small trucks $14.40, and motorcycles $4.50.

Duffy’s post comes a month after the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration announced that it had terminated approval of the pilot for New York City’s Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP).

In a letter to Hochul, the department rescinded an agreement signed in November under the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP), effectively ending tolling authority for New York City’s cordon pricing plan.

The MTA filed a lawsuit against the agency in federal court in Manhattan the same day, arguing the move violated “a host of federal statutes and regulations.”

“Let me be clear, these attacks on congestion pricing are an attack on New York’s sovereignty,” Rep. Jerry Nadler said yesterday prior to Duffy’s post. “New York has the right to govern itself, to implement policies that improve the lives of its residents, and to make decisions that benefit our infrastructure and our economy.”

Hochul doubled down on her commitment to the tolling plan, quote-tweeting a prior X post in which she alluded to the fact that she will not turn off the tolling cameras in the city.

“Like I said. […the cameras are staying on],” the governor said.

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