The U.S. Department of Transportation has given the MTA until March 21 to stop collecting congestion pricing tolls, according to a letter sent last Thursday.

The letter came one day after U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy sent a separate letter to Gov. Kathy Hochul, saying the agency would contact the state about an “orderly cessation” of the program.  

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Department of Transportation sent a letter to city and state leaders calling for New York City's congestion pricing program to end by March 21

  • The Trump administration revoked the program's federal approval last week, with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy calling the tolling plan a "slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners"

  • The MTA filed a lawsuit against the agency in federal court in Manhattan the same day, arguing the move violated "a host of federal statutes and regulations"

The Trump administration revoked the program’s federal approval last week, with Duffy calling the tolling plan a “slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners.”

At Wednesday’s MTA board meeting at Grand Central Madison, there was no mention of the latest letter, but Hochul had a message for the Trump administration.

“We have said that you may have asked for an orderly cessation, was the phrase that came in the letter to us. Orderly cessation. I will propose something in the alternative, orderly resistance,” Hochul said.

The MTA has already filed a lawsuit against the federal government, arguing the revoking of federal approval violated “a host of federal statutes and regulations.” MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said the agency is confident it will win.

“We’re not turning them off, we have an approval that is valid and in effect and we’re not turning them off absent a court order,” Lieber said.

The letter setting the March 21 deadline arrived before Hochul met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. During that meeting, she presented a booklet highlighting the benefits of congestion pricing, which she later shared with the MTA board. She said there is a disconnect between the White House and the daily struggles New Yorkers face.

“I guarantee the president has never had to endure missing a child’s sporting event because they’re stuck on a delayed train, never had to stand in a flooded subway station because we couldn’t make repairs, sitting in traffic missing an important meeting because you couldn’t get around,” Hochul said.

That meeting did not appear to change the president's stance.

So far, no court date has been set for the MTA’s lawsuit. While other legal challenges to congestion pricing remain pending, cases before Trump-appointed judges have yet to halt the program.