NYC Congestion Pricing Under Threat — Again

President Trump is attempting to make good on a campaign promise to kill New York City’s congestion pricing program, but the mechanism for ending it remains unclear.

1 minute read

February 12, 2025, 5:00 AM PST

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Blurred traffic at night passing through Battery Park Tunnel into New York City with One World Trade Center in background.

mandritoiu / Adobe Stock

In keeping with one of his campaign promises, President Trump is taking steps to end New York City’s just-launched congestion pricing program, which has been shown to reduce traffic by over a million vehicles and improve travel times for people in cars and on public transit.

As Dan Zukowski writes in Smart Cities Dive, “Trump has had at least two phone calls with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul about killing the tolling program, which went into effect Jan. 5.” It’s unclear how Trump would stop the program, but the President said he would work to withhold federal funding or rescind approval for the program.

Trump also took aim at bike lanes and what he called “sidewalks in the middle of the street,” calling them dangerous. He did not address the 20 bicyclists and 101 pedestrians killed by cars in 2023.

After finally making a nod to pedestrians and cyclists in its guidelines last year, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has now scrubbed the Complete Streets page from its website. 

Monday, February 10, 2025 in Smart Cities Dive

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