President Donald Trump has renewed his attacks on New York City’s congestion pricing, claiming he can use the U.S. Department of Transportation to “kill” the program. In an interview with the New York Post, Trump suggested he could withhold federal transportation funds or reopen the environmental review process that authorized the toll program. He also claimed to be in discussions with Gov. Kathy Hochul about the program’s future, but declined to disclose details of at least two prior phone conversations “out of respect.”
Trump and Hochul reportedly spoke twice in the last week of January about congestion pricing. Conversations between the governor’s office and the White House continued last week, a person familiar with the discussions told the New York Times.
“I think it’s really horrible, but I want to discuss it with her at this point,” Trump told the Post, referring to the program that charges drivers $9 to enter Manhattan’s busiest areas. “If I decide to do it, I will be able to kill it off in Washington through the Department of Transportation. It’s a lot of power.”
Trump also suggested that the city should focus its efforts on “safety and cleanliness in the subway,” citing recent incidents where commuters were pushed onto the tracks by “thugs.” According to New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch, the city has seen a 36.4 percent decrease in subway crime in January compared to the same time last year. Tisch credited the decline in major crimes to the deployment of hundreds of police officers in the system.
Trump’s threat over congestion pricing jeopardizes a portion of the $36 million in five-year federal transportation funding allocated to New York state, which extends through the end of 2026.
In the discussions, the governor’s staff argued that the program has been successful, and provided data to support their claims.
At the end of January, the MTA released data from the first three weeks of the program, which found trip times on all Hudson and East River crossings are now 10 percent to 30 percent faster than in January 2024. Holland Tunnel motorists saw a 48 percent reduction in travel time on average during peak morning hours. Both bus and subway ridership is both on weekdays and weekends.
Any effort by Trump to eliminate the program would end up in the court, where it has been successfully defended several times already, Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for Riders Alliance, told the Times.
“Congestion pricing has been in the courts in multiple states, and it wins every time because the program was so carefully and thoroughly vetted by multiple federal agencies,” Pearlstein said. “There’s no taking that back in spite of the political winds.”
In the interview, Trump also vowed to eliminate bike lanes in the five boroughs, stating “they’re dangerous. These bikes go at 20 miles an hour. They’re whacking people,” according to the Post.
Trump has long been a critic of congestion pricing, previously pledging to eliminate the program during his first week in office.
In January, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy sent a letter to Trump urging him to “re-examine” the program while claiming that it was never “well-designed or adequately studied.” In the letter, Murphy reminded the president of his previous comments about the program, including campaign statements where he described congestion pricing as a “disaster for NYC.”
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