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Donald Trump could halt New York’s controversial congestion pricing program despite it successfully unsnarling many of the city’s bumper-to-bumper streets.
The Department of Transportation is considering revoking the federal authorization that the Biden administration approved last year which gave the program the green light, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
Without the authorization the program could be left open to legal challenges that could end, or at the very least temporarily pause, congestion pricing from continuing.
The outlet says that no final decision has been made, but Trump has voiced support for killing it off. Two weeks ago, a group of New York Republican lawmakers met with the president at Mar-a-Lago to advocate against the program.
During his presidential campaign, Trump promised to “terminate” congestion pricing in his “first week” back in office. As of now, it is still in effect.
The plan, which went into effect earlier this month, charges drivers an additional $9 to enter midtown or downtown Manhattan during peak hours.
Its purpose is to reduce heavy gridlock, lower vehicle carbon emissions, and provide more funding to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to improve public transportation like subways and buses.
Data from the first week of congestion pricing shows a seven percent reduction in vehicles in the tolled area below Manhattan’s 60th Street, with drivers seeing a 30 to 40 percent reduction in travel times compared to last year.
But despite its success, some lawmakers have criticized it for unfairly punishing commuters in the tri-state area.
Even New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, asked Trump to look at the program, which he referred to as a “disaster” and claimed hits working and middle-class commuters from his state.
Mike Lawler, a Republican congressman from Hudson Valley, New York, called the program a “cash grab” and vowed to get it repealed.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a proponent of congestion pricing, has fought to implement the program.
Last summer Hochul temporarily paused the program from taking effect but shortly after Trump was elected she reinstated it bringing the toll down from $15 to $9.
