RELEASE: Gottheimer Calls on the Department of Transportation to Review New York’s New Congestion Tax Plan

Above: Gottheimer announcing new actions to fight Congestion Tax.

FORT LEE, NJ — Today, November 19, 2024, U.S. Congressman Gottheimer (NJ-5) announced new steps to fight the Congestion Tax. First, according to New York, they have made significant, material changes to their original Congestion Tax plan. With these changes, Gottheimer is calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to fully reevaluate New York’s new Congestion Tax plan — including a full, 60 day comment period — to examine its impact on traffic patterns and pollution. 

Gottheimer is also sending a letter to congressional leadership urging them to bring critical, bipartisan legislation to stop the Congestion Tax to the floor for a vote before the end of the calendar year. 

A recording of the announcement can be found here.

Outrageous Price of the Revised Congestion Tax

• Commuting into New York City will still cost Jersey drivers with E-ZPass nine dollars per day — more than $2,300-per-year. 
• Without EZ-pass it can cost $13.50-per-day or more than $3,500-per-year.

• The Congestion Tax plan anticipates an increase to $12 in 2028 and $15 by 2031. 
• With surge pricing, the MTA can charge an additional 25 percent on top of the $9 toll
• The Port Authority is set to lose more than $525 million dollars in estimated revenue
• For the Jersey-based buses taking folks in, their daily Congestion Tax could run as high as $21.60 a day.

MTA Mismanagement

• $1 billion to expand the 2nd Ave subway stations twice as large as experts say is needed.
• New York State gave $600 million to the Buffalo Bills, the most public money ever spent on an NFL stadium, to build a brand new stadium right next to their existing stadium.
• $700 million a year lost to fare skippers & $700,000 on gates that fail to stop skippers.
• $5 million on workers to look for fires at the bus depot because the sprinklers don’t work.

Gottheimer’s New Action to Fight Congestion Tax

• First, Gottheimer is sending a letter to the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration urging them to reevaluate New York’s new Congestion Tax plan — including a full, 60 day comment period of review — to review its impact on traffic patterns and pollution.
• This must happen since, by New York’s own admission, they have made significant, material changes to their original Congestion Tax plan and we must review its impact on traffic patterns and pollution. 
• Second, Gottheimer is sending a letter today to congressional leadership urging them to bring critical, bipartisan legislation related to the Congestion Tax to the floor for a vote before the end of the calendar year. 

• The bipartisan Anti-Congestion Tax Act, which Gottheimer introduced, will prevent the Department of Transportation from awarding any new grants to MTA projects in New York until drivers from all New Jersey and New York crossings into Manhattan receive exemptions from any Congestion Tax. This will directly stop the MTA from costing the Port Authority millions if it insists on its nine-dollar-a-day tax. 
• The bipartisan STOP NJ CONGESTION Act, which Gottheimer co-led with the late Congressman Bill Pascrell, will prevent the Congestion Tax from being implemented unless New York receives the consent of each affected state. 
• The Motorist Tax Abuse Act, which Gottheimer co-led with Representative Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), specifically prohibits congestion pricing in New York City
• The Economic Impact of Tolling Act, which Gottheimer co-led with Representative Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), will prohibit the Department of Transportation from enacting the Congestion Tax until an economic impact analysis is completed and made available to the public.
• Finally, Gottheimer will fight to make life more affordable for Jersey families. And, at the same time, ensure families are given a better return for all they are already paying. 

• It’s why Gottheimer helped negotiate and write – and fought so hard to pass — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, so we can invest more in mass transit, fix our roads, bridges, and tunnels, and build the Gateway Train Tunnel. 
• Gottheimer will ensure the Port Authority isn’t stripped of the resources it needs to invest in our region’s infrastructure, where 20 percent of the nation’s GDP runs through. 
• Gottheimer will always fight for hardworking Jersey families and do everything possible to lower taxes and lower costs, including health care, housing, child care, and groceries. 

“Let me say this to all of those hardworking, middle class families who are struggling to make ends meet: we stopped the Congestion Tax once, and we’ll stop it again. Game on. In a time of inflation, New York’s attempt to whack Jersey families with another tax is utterly absurd.” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Together, like we did before, with leaders from across Jersey and New York, including Governor Murphy, small business owners, the men and women of labor, and countless others from both sides of the Hudson, we will fight the Congestion Tax tooth and nail – until Governor Hochul does the right thing.”

Gottheimer continued, “According to New York, they have made a significant, material changes to their original Congestion Tax plan. Today, I’ll be sending a letter to the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration urging them to reevaluate New York’s new Congestion Tax plan — including a full comment period — to review its impact on traffic patterns and pollution. The Department of Transportation should not rush a plan of this magnitude through without any feedback from people on how this new tax will actually affect them and communities in the tri-state area.”

Gottheimer was joined by the Mayor of Fort Lee Mark Sokolich, Greater Northeast Motorcoach Association Executive Director Pattie Cowley, Greater Northeast Motorcoach Association Vice President Michelle Petelicki, Steve Ekizian of the Port Authority Lieutenants Benevolent Association, and members of the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association.

Below: Gottheimer stands with local leaders to fight Congestion Tax.

Gottheimer’s full remarks as prepared for delivery can be found here.

Good morning. It’s Groundhog Day here in Fort Lee at the George Washington Bridge. This past June, after years of opposition and reviewing the mountain of evidence, the Governor of New York put the brakes on the Congestion Tax, stating, “A $15 charge might not seem like a lot to someone who has the means, but it can break the budget of a hardworking or middle class household. It puts the squeeze on the very people who make this city go.”

Yet, somehow, just six months later, as families in New York and here in New Jersey are continuing to be squeezed by higher costs, the MTA announced their plans to go full steam ahead with the Congestion Tax. I guess New York suddenly stopped caring about breaking the budgets of nurses, restaurant workers, taxi drivers, police officers, and other middle class families? Unless I missed something, those higher prices haven’t come down. 

In case you missed the specifics, the woefully mismanaged MTA voted just yesterday to start their new $9 a day Congestion Tax on January 5 whenever you drive south of 60th Street in New York City – and approved raising it already to $15 within just a few years. They approved surge pricing, so they can charge an additional 25 percent whenever they want to. Oh, and for hardworking families here in Jersey who commute, drive to see family, friends, or go to a doctor’s appointment – not a nickel of this new $2,300 a year tax does anything for New Jersey.  

Not a penny to NJ Transit or to fix our roads or bridges. Nothing for the Port Authority that will suddenly have a huge hole in its budget – I mean more than $525 million dollars that won’t go to fixing our bridges, tunnels, ports, airports, or helping build a new bus terminal. And, just like before, if you go by the MTA’s own reports, the Congestion Tax will change traffic patterns and lead to massive new backups of trucks here at the GW Bridge. What’s that mean for our children and families here in Northern New Jersey? More cancer causing pollution pluming out of trucks here at the GW Bridge. 

Let me say this to all of those hardworking, middle class families who are struggling to make ends meet: we stopped the Congestion Tax once, and we’ll stop it again. Game on. In a time of inflation, New York’s attempt to whack Jersey families, and their own families, with another tax is utterly absurd.  

Together, like we did before, with leaders from across Jersey and New York, including Governor Murphy, small business owners, the men and women of labor, and countless others from both sides of the Hudson, we will fight the Congestion Tax tooth and nail – until Governor Hochul does the right thing and shuts it down again. 

What’s rich is that the MTA thinks that lowering its Congestion Tax will make everything alright – that $9 a day won’t break the bank. That it’s loose change sitting in your couch cushion. I guess they think that the $17 folks already pay to commute over the bridge or through the tunnels isn’t enough. Or, the MTA is so desperate for cash that they just don’t care about how it will hurt families, small businesses, nurses, the electrician. I mean they blow the $2 billion a year the federal government gives them, and the $15 billion dollars they got during the pandemic.  

The MTA blew $700 million last year on fare skippers – people who rode and didn’t pay. According to a recent report, half of all of MTA bus riders don’t pay. Yet, the MTA have no problem making the families over here in Jersey or in the Outer Boroughs or Westchester pay?  

Even with their revised Congestion Tax plan, commuting into New York City will still cost Jersey drivers with E-ZPass nine dollars per day — more than $2,300 a year. And without EZ-pass its even worse. It can cost $13.50 a day, or more than $3,500-per-year. Forget about taking the family to see the Rockefeller Christmas Tree or ice skate at the rink. 

After accounting for the forty bucks it’ll cost you to park plus the cost of gas, you could be paying north of $70 for your daily commute, before you even buy a cup of coffee. And for the Jersey-based buses taking folks in, like the ones represented here today, their daily Congestion Tax could run as high as $21.60 a day. Even the exceptions are almost as ridiculous as the plan itself. I refuse to stand around and let the MTA balance their mismanaged, out-of-control budget at the expense of Jersey taxpayers.   

That’s why today I’m announcing new actions to ensure that Jersey families don’t get whacked by New York’s outrageous Congestion Tax. Here’s how. 

First, according to New York, they have made significant, material changes to their original Congestion Tax plan. Governor Hochul’s press release talked about “new tools to reduce congestion and air pollution in communities citywide.” According to federal rules, material changes to a proposal of this magnitude should automatically trigger a reevaluation of the plan by the Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration — including a comment period from the public.

Today, I’ll be sending a letter to the US Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration urging them to reevaluate New York’s new Congestion Tax plan — including a full comment period of review — to hear from experts and families on the impact of traffic patterns and pollution. The Department of Transportation should not rush a plan of this magnitude through without any feedback from people on how this new tax will actually affect them and communities in the tri-state area. With all of the smog the Congestion Tax will cause, we must — and we will — know the full impacts of New York’s new plan. 

Let me reiterate this point because I think it’s important: The Department of Transportation is required to reevaluate this program — and since, by the MTA’s own admission, this is clearly a new plan, causing new traffic patterns and different economic effects than before, it requires a new study and comment period of at least 60 days from when it starts. 

Second, I am sending a letter today to congressional leadership urging them to bring critical, bipartisan legislation related to the Congestion Tax to the floor for a vote before the end of the calendar year. 

This includes the bipartisan Anti-Congestion Tax Act, which I proudly introduced, and which will prevent the Department of Transportation from awarding any new grants to MTA projects in New York until drivers from all New Jersey and New York crossings into Manhattan receive exemptions from any Congestion Tax. This will directly stop the MTA from costing the Port Authority millions if it insists on its nine-dollar-a-day tax. The bipartisan STOP NJ CONGESTION Act, which I was proud to co-lead with my friend, the late Congressman Bill Pascrell, will prevent the Congestion Tax from being implemented unless New York receives the consent of each affected state. 

I also co-led two bipartisan bills with my colleague from New York, Nicole Malliotakis – the Motorist Tax Abuse Act specifically prohibits congestion pricing in New York City and the Economic Impact of Tolling Act will prohibit the Department of Transportation from enacting the Congestion Tax until an economic impact analysis is completed and made available to the public. Our pockets, and the health of our families cannot wait while New York insists on threatening us with this crushing tax. There is no reason we can’t bring one or all of these bills to the floor for a vote before the end of the year. They are bipartisan and have strong support from across the region.

Finally, we must do everything we can to make life more affordable for Jersey families. And, at the same time, we must give families a better return for all you’re already paying. It’s why I helped negotiate and write – and fought so hard to pass — the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, so we can invest more in mass transit, fix our roads, bridges, and tunnels, and build the Gateway Train Tunnel. It’s why I’ll make sure the Port Authority isn’t stripped of the resources it needs to invest in our region’s infrastructure, where 20 percent of the nation’s GDP runs through. 

It’s why I’ll always fight for hardworking Jersey families. And why I’ll do everything we can to lower taxes and lower costs, including health care, housing, child care, and groceries. 

But, let me be clear, if New York doesn’t back down again, we will all stand together, work together, and fight it to the end. This is about Jersey pocketbooks and the environment. The stakes are just too high to sit back and let our families get whacked. That said, I’m hopeful New York will come to its senses again and realize this plan will hurt their families and ours.  

We are always better when we work together as a region, as we have for more than a century. I know that as long as we do that, in the greatest country in the world, our best days will always be ahead of us.

Thank you, and may God bless you and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

###