Trump administration won’t ask a court to stop congestion pricing before fall, MTA says

President Donald Trump’s administration won’t ask a court to stop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from charging its congestion pricing tolls until fall at the earliest, according to a new court filing.

Following their decision to rescind federal approval for the MTA’s congestion pricing program, the Trump administration has given the MTA an April 20 deadline to take down the tolls. But, in a letter sent Friday to a federal judge as part of MTA’s lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation, MTA lawyer Roberta Kaplan revealed that, in a conference call last week, attorneys representing the federal government “did state that, at present, they do not intend to seek” a court injunction forcing the MTA to comply with their order.

Federal transportation officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Motions made by either side to litigate the case will be due, according to the letter, in the fall.

The MTA has said the federal government has no right to unilaterally stop the tolling program, which charges most vehicles $9 for driving below 60th Street in Manhattan during peak hours. Barring a court order, MTA officials have said they have no intention of taking down the tolls.

Although federal officials have not spelled out the consequences of not complying with their April 20 deadline, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has suggested the Trump administration could withhold federal transit funding from New York.

Visiting Long Island Thursday, Duffy said the MTA’s stance on the issue remains “unreasonable.”

“The roads that drivers are being charged on, they already paid for those roads. They’re federal roadways that taxes paid for … and now they’re getting charged a second time,” Duffy said while visiting the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. “And they don’t have a free pathway to get into the cordoned area. That’s a problem.”

Duffy also said, by charging new tolls in Manhattan, the MTA is forcing “poor people or middle income people onto trains that you don’t make safe.”

Duffy rode a subway train with New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday and described the conditions as “not humane.”

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber, speaking at a Manhattan news conference Friday noted that subway crime is down this year, compared to the same period in 2024, and has also dropped since the period immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020.

“We will never declare victory on subway safety because there’s always more progress to be made but … things are on a positive trajectory,” Lieber said.