Federal Judge Keeps Manhattan Congestion Fees in Place

New York City can keep collecting its congestion tolls, for now, after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s effort to kill the tax was unlawful. In a March 3 decision, Judge Lewis Liman of the Southern District of New York said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy lacked authority to revoke the federal government’s prior approval of the tolling plan. The judge stopped short, however, of issuing a broader order that would bar any future federal action against the program. The ruling is a win for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which operates the nation’s busiest public transit network and is relying on congestion-pricing revenue to modernize its aging subway and bus system that serves roughly 5 million riders a day....