NJ Gov. Murphy tears up NYC congestion pricing plan

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy tore up the MTA’s congestion pricing plan on Sunday, warning that New York City, as it recovers from the pandemic, shouldn’t want to give people “another excuse not to be in Manhattan”.

The controversial scheme – which aims to reduce traffic in midtown Manhattan by charging drivers $9 to $23 – would be unfair to Jersey commuters and hurt communities still struggling to recover from the pandemic, said Murphy told radio host John Catsimatidis during his panel discussion on cats. WABC 770 AM.

The two-term Democrat added that the glacial pace at which plans have moved to renovate the Port Authority’s bus station and build new tunnels under the Hudson River has only made matters worse.

“If they were already done and the New Jersey commuter had a real alternative to driving…that he could get on a bus and be sure of a fast ride or a single-seater train ride, that would be one thing, but it’s not. case at the moment,” Murphy said.

“I don’t want to speak for New York,” Murphy continued. “But if we are already, all of us, struggling to get back on our feet after the pandemic – because we all are – the last thing it seems to me that you want to do is give people another excuse. not be in Manhattan.

Passed in 2019, the MTA program would impose a toll on vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street.

It has garnered strong support from transit advocates who say congestion pricing will reduce traffic congestion, help the environment and boost public transit.

But opponents — including a bipartisan group of congressional officials who want to scuttle the plan — say the toll will hurt motorists, discourage tourism and push pollution to outer boroughs and across the Hudson.

NJ Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer told a news conference last week he believed the MTA was mismanaged and hoped for a bailout.

“They’re desperate for money to fill the big hole they’ve dug for themselves,” Gottheimer said.

The Big Apple is currently ranked as the worst city for congestion in the country, according to the TomTom Traffic Index, which tracks congestion in major cities around the world.

New Yorkers endure a massive 236 hours — the equivalent of 10 full days — stuck in rush hour traffic each year, according to the calculated index.