State transit officials and the Trump administration have agreed to a legal timeline that will keep congestion pricing live at least into October, according to a new court document.
The filing is part of a lawsuit filed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in federal court that seeks to block the Trump administration from forcing an end to the tolls.
Both sides agreed to a briefing schedule that will not resolve the dispute until July at the earliest. Additional time for Judge Lewis Liman to consider the case allows him to hold off on reaching a final decision into October, meaning that the toll cameras that are charging drivers a base fare of $9 to travel south of 60th Street in Manhattan will likely remain in place at least until then.
The federal government indicated in the filing that it won’t take action to enforce the April 20 deadline they had earlier given the MTA to halt the tolls. Lawyers for the White House noted that they currently do not plan to ask Liman to temporarily halt the toll until the lawsuit is resolved.
In the meantime, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened to withhold federal funds from the MTA over crime on the city’s subway. Last week Duffy visited the subway with Mayor Eric Adams and pointedly did not include MTA leadership in his 10-minute visit to the system.
