New Jersey is suing the federal government to block a plan to charge drivers entering midtown Manhattan,
The challenge came Friday morning in a federal lawsuit the state filed against the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
Drivers may have to pay the charge starting as soon as the first quarter of next year, with E-ZPass motorists who enter the city south of 60th Street paying as much as $23.
The new tolls are expected to help raise $15 billion for public transportation projects. New York officials say the charges could also reduce daily traffic in Manhattan’s central business district by 20%. The plan’s supporters say it is necessary to ease congestion in the district, reduce pollution and boost transit ridership.
But commuters and politicians in New Jersey, as well as drivers who enter Manhattan from Long Island, Brooklyn and Queens, have long opposed the idea.
FILE – Pedestrians cross Delancey Street as congested traffic from Brooklyn enters Manhattan over the Williamsburg Bridge, March 28, 2019, in New York. New York is inching toward becoming the first U.S. city to charge motorists an extra fee for entering its most congested areas. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
