As New Yorkers reap the benefits of cleaner air, faster bus speeds, and much-needed funds for public transit thanks to congestion pricing, the program appears beset from all sides. In Washington, President Donald Trump has already revoked federal authorization for the program (for which New York State is now suing his administration), and New Jersey politicians are also seeking to capitalize on negative sentiment towards the program on the other side of the Hudson. Speaking with CBS’s Marcia Kramer on Sunday, New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli suggested flipping the script on the Big Apple, proposing what amounts to a reverse congestion pricing fee for cars entering the Garden State from New York.
“If President Trump is not successful in getting rid of congestion pricing, I’m sorry but every New York plate that comes through the tunnels or over the bridges in the morning to New Jersey, we’re going to hit them with a congestion pricing fee,” the former assemblyman said. “Why should New Jerseyans pay for the MTA? I’ll get New Yorkers to pay for New Jersey Transit.” Ciattarelli also proposed the creation of the Garden State Transit Authority, a statewide agency whose structure would closely resemble that of New York’s MTA. Currently out of office, Ciattarelli is in the midst of his third attempt at the governorship after narrowly losing his second campaign to Democrat Phil Murphy in 2021.
Ciattarelli is not the first New Jersey politician to float such a proposal since the program was implemented on January 5th. Steve Fulop, the Democratic mayor of Jersey City, declared his support for the idea barely a week after New York’s program was implemented, with the same tit-for-tat framing as Ciattarelli. “New Jersey has the same opportunity to push the buttons that New York is pushing against us,” he told FOX 5. “There’s plenty of crossings between Staten Island, New York, Bergen County, and Hudson County into New Jersey. There’s plenty of opportunities to have the same sort of impact fee that New York is putting on New Jersey.” Like Ciattarelli, Fulop also proposes that the proceeds go towards funding New Jersey Transit, which he calls “a terrible product.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO Janno Lieber have stated that “the cameras will stay on” and the congestion pricing program will continue while they mount their legal challenge against the Trump administration.
