Earlier today, Governor Murphy announced a new lawsuit against the Federal Highway Administration for approving New York’s congestion pricing plan for vehicles entering downtown Manhattan. Congestion pricing is meant to decrease the number of cars entering Manhattan and incentivize the use of public transportation. The governor’s announcement comes days after the NJ Transit Board of Directors approved a new annual budget that fails to address an imminent $1 billion shortfall that could result in drastic service cuts and fare hikes. In response to this announcement, New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) releases the following statement.
Alex Ambrose, Policy Analyst, NJPP:
“The best way to respond to New York’s congestion pricing plan is to improve and expand our own public transit systems here in New Jersey. Fully funding NJ Transit would be a far better use of taxpayer dollars than suing the federal government for a plan lawmakers have known about for years and did nothing to prepare for. The irony here is that congestion pricing will benefit New Jersey and New York alike by reducing traffic, reducing air pollution, and generating revenue for subways that residents of both states rely on. It’s easy to oppose congestion pricing to score political points, but this sort of lawsuit does nothing for the nine out of ten New Jersey commuters who already rely on mass transit to get to and from work everyday.”
