Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’d be “100%” open to some form of congestion pricing after moving to pull federal approval of the controversial toll program.
But Duffy questioned the $9 toll amount — the funds of which will go toward raising $15 billion for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority — and wondered whether the aim of the program was actually geared toward reducing congestion on Manhattan’s busiest streets.
“I think there’s a lot of great ideas around congestion pricing, and how we can reduce it,” he said on CBS News Wednesday. “But you can’t take American taxpayers, who paid for roads, and block them out and say, ‘You can’t access this unless you pay additional money,’ and that’s what she’s done,” referring to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“She never did a study to say ‘I really care about congestion. I want to reduce congestion so I’m going to look at how much money should I charge in a toll and how much will that reduce congestion?’ That analysis was never done,” Duffy said.
“So instead of paying $9 could someone pay $5 … or $3 to reduce congestion?” he asked. “Why did you set it at $9? What was the purpose of setting a $9 that’s not for congestion? Was it to raise money for public transportation?”
Duffy added: “That’s the analysis I think the taxpayer should expect. And if we’re going to give approvals I want to make sure the public can access this cordoned area on some of the roads that they paid for and I want to make sure … she’s going to charge an amount that’s actually going to reduce congestion, not just raise money for public transportation.”
The transportation secretary’s remarks mirrored some of the reasons he provided in a letter to Hochul this week informing her that the feds were revoking their approval of the scheme — which President Trump then declared “dead” in an all-caps social media post, ending with “LONG LIVE THE KING!”
The MTA had quickly filed a federal lawsuit and, alongside Hochul, vowed to fight to keep the first-in-the-nation plan alive.
MTA and governor’s office officials didn’t return The Post’s requests for comments.
Duffy’s avowal that congestion pricing could be saved could add to the confusion experienced by New York commuters this week, in part stemming from his own letter Wednesday announcing he’d pull federal approval.
The transportation secretary didn’t say when the $9 fee would cease being collected, only noting in his letter that the feds would work with New York state on an “orderly termination” of the tolls.
Hochul and MTA honcho Janno Lieber, while vowing to fight the Trump administration, have both said toll cameras will remain active.
“Until ruled otherwise, the congestion pricing cameras are staying on,” Hochul said during a defiant press conference just hours after Duffy’s letter.
Many commuters and congestion pricing opponents have urged the MTA to shut down the cameras amid the confusion.
Congestion pricing advocates argue that the $9 tolls have significantly reduced traffic in Manhattan below 60th Street as intended since the program began in January.
Lieber said traffic in Manhattan was down 9% in January, or NYC saw 1.2 million fewer vehicles in the toll district.
Additional reporting by Vaughn Golden
