Judge backs MTA in dispute with USDOT over congestion pricing

U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York yesterday ruled that the U.S. Department of Transportation's effort to end the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's congestion pricing program is illegal.

In May 2025, Liman issued a temporary block on the USDOT and Trump administration's attempts to withhold federal highway funding in New York over the MTA's program to charge vehicle drivers tolls for traveling in certain parts of New York City during high-congestion times. =Yesterday, in a 149-page opinion, Liman ruled the USDOT's actions last year were unlawful, according to a Reuters report. USDOT told the national news outlet that it disagreed with the ruling and is reviewing legal options.

"In its first year, congestion pricing has yielded huge benefits: reduced gridlock, faster trips, safer streets and cleaner air, all while unlocking critical funding for mass transit upgrades," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said yesterday in a prepared statement. "Congestion pricing is legal, it works, and it is here to stay."

MTA uses the proceeds from the congestion pricing program to fund capital improvements for New York City subways, buses and commuter railroads'

Under federal law, roads built using federal funding cannot charge tolls, but in November 2024, the Biden administration approved a value pricing pilot program (VPPP) that allowed an exception for MTA. The agency implemented the program in January 2025 and charges tolls to drivers entering New York City's central business district.

But in February 2025, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy under the new Trump administration informed Hochul and the MTA that he was terminating the VPPP under the Trump administration's claim that it's an illegal tolling program. In April 2025, Duffy issued a letter stating the Federal Highway Administration could halt federal funding for state highway projects if the congestion program continued.

In response, Hochul and the MTA sued and have kept congestion pricing in place.