New Jersey isn’t going down quietly when it comes to congestion pricing.
In a lawsuit filed Friday morning in federal court in Newark, the Garden State sued the FHWA and the US Department of Transportation, claiming the US approval of New York’s plan to charge those paying to enter Manhattan via car, was ill-considered. It alleges that FHWA ignored the fact that the new tolls would change commuting patterns and unfairly burden New Jersey crossings not included in the ambitious plan.
The litigation threatens to delay a second-quarter start to congestion pricing in 2024, under which drivers using E-ZPass who enter the city south of 60th Street could pay as much as $23.
“We’ll bear the burdens of congestion pricing while New York City gets the benefits, and that’s not fair,” Governor Phil Murphy said at a press conference following the suit being filed. He attacked the plan as a mere revenue stream for the MTA.
The state is taking aim at the Federal Highway Administration’s environmental impact study of the plan, which the lawsuit said “was not the product of a reasoned and comprehensive fact-based environmental review.”
“We are particularly disappointed by the lack of a thorough environmental impact review and the lack of mitigation measures for impacted communities, like Fort Lee,” Murphy said during Friday’s news conference. “Unfortunately, New York’s proposal will prompt toll shopping, where more drivers seek circuitous routes to avoid paying the highest tolls, resulting in more traffic and more pollution in certain areas.”
Murphy hired Randy Mastro, the lawyer used by Chris Christie after the Bridgegate traffic congestion scandal, to handle the suit.
New York politicians haven’t been as fiery when asked about the pending legal battle, but it’s safe to say that this lawsuit has a shot to make it to the Supreme Court, where so many previous NJ-NY squabbles have.
