New York officials have so far ignored the deadline to stop congestion pricing in New York City, despite “terminated approval” from the US Department of Transportation. 

The congestion pricing in New York City began in January, and charges drivers a toll for entering certain parts of the city during certain times in an attempt to ease traffic and raise money for improvements to the city’s public transportation. 

On February 19th, the USDOT “terminated approval” it had previously issued for the tolling plan, stating that “except for limited exceptions allowed by Congress, highways constructed with Federal-aid highway funds cannot be tolled.” USDOT then issued the state a deadline of April 20th to stop collecting the tolls, which the State of New York has ignored. As of April 22nd, the state was continuing to collect fees from drivers entering the city at certain times.

On Monday, April 21st, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, warning that the state is risking the loss of federal funding and approval of projects from the Federal Highway Administration with the continuing collection of the tolls. 

“The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if Governor Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system,” Duffy said in a statement after issuing the letter. “We are giving New York one last chance to turn back or prove their actions are not illegal.”

The state of New York now has another 30 days to stop collecting the toll or present an argument indicating why the toll does not break the law.