The administration of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has intensified its legal opposition to New York City’s congestion pricing plan, claiming it unfairly targets New Jersey motorists.
The administration updated its lawsuit, initially filed in July in the United States District Court of New Jersey, on Monday to include fresh arguments that the proposed tolls discriminate against drivers from the Garden State.
This amended lawsuit points out several ways in which the toll system, designed for Manhattan’s Central Business District below 60th Street, may unfairly burden New Jersey drivers.
The suit highlights the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution, which was intended to prevent states from implementing regulations that unfairly disadvantage out-of-state economic interests.
Governor Murphy, in a Tuesday statement, said, “The federal government and the MTA can no longer be permitted to fast-track a proposal that solely benefits New York’s transportation system at the expense of hardworking New Jerseyans.”
The lawsuit contends that the toll discriminates by only charging those entering the Central Business District, with New Jersey drivers using the Lincoln and Holland tunnels facing higher tolls compared to New York residents.
Additionally, it points out the ineligibility of low-income New Jersey drivers for the tax credits available to New Yorkers living within the toll zone.
A representative from the Murphy administration stressed, “The tolling scheme’s objective is to deter, impede, and penalize New Jerseyans’ right to travel to Manhattan’s Central Business District.”
The lawsuit is one of several filed in both New Jersey and New York courts challenging the congestion pricing plan, slated to be implemented later this year.
In response to these allegations, John McCarthy, chief of policy and external relations for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, expressed disbelief, stating, “You got to be kidding! New Jersey collects millions from New York drivers who use the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, but it’s somehow unconstitutional for New York to toll its own roads?”
U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey also weighed in, criticizing the MTA’s approach: “The MTA can’t use Jersey drivers as their free-for-all piggy bank,” he shared on social media.
The congestion pricing plan is designed to reduce traffic in Manhattan’s midtown area by tolling vehicles entering below 60th Street, excluding those on perimeter highways.
The toll rates vary, with different charges for peak hours and for vehicles without E-ZPass.
The new toll is anticipated to generate an annual revenue of $1 billion.
The revised lawsuit comes in the wake of a successful effort by the American Trucking Associations to halt a discriminatory toll program in Rhode Island.
The trucking association alleged that Rhode Island attempted to exempt in-state drivers and businesses from tolls, resulting in a program that exclusively targeted Class 8 trucks, the largest and heaviest vehicles on the road, while excluding smaller trucks and automobiles.
U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith in Rhode Island ruled the toll unconstitutional, stating in his decision that a toll program “should account in some fair way for all users of the tolled facilities.”
