New York will indefinitely pause a planned congestion pricing program that would have added tolls for vehicles in a wide swath of Manhattan, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced June 5, just weeks before the tolls were scheduled to be implemented. The pause leaves questions about $15 billion the tolls had been expected to generate to fund transit projects.

The plan would have added tolls of $15 for most cars during weekdays, and ranging as high as $36 for certain trucks, on local streets below 60th Street in Manhattan. The tolls were scheduled to take effect June 30. However, circumstances have changed since 2019, when state lawmakers passed legislation directing the creation of a congestion tolling program, Hochul said during a video address. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, office attendance is down while residents and workers are facing increased costs of living, and another cost could risk keeping more workers out of the city, she said. 

“After careful consideration, I have come to the difficult decision that implementing the planned congestion pricing system risks too many unintended consequences for New Yorkers at this time,” Hochul said. 

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) had already been planning to put money toward a variety of subway, bus and commuter train projects improving infrastructure and making stations more accessible, as well as larger projects including Phase 2 of the $7.7-billion Second Avenue subway extension. 

An MTA representative referred a reporter to the governor’s office for questions about the funding. The governor’s office did not provide additional details.

Congestion pricing was facing several legal challenges and was reportedly unpopular—a Siena College poll in April found 63% of New Yorkers opposed the plan. With controversy mounting, Hochul said the state had already “set aside funding to backstop the MTA capital plan” and is “currently exploring other funding sources.” 

“We remain fully committed to advancing all the improvements that New Yorkers have been promised,” she said. 

Despite the governor’s assurance, transit advocates and builders shared skepticism about prospects of moving all the projects forward. Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, said in a statement that without the congestion pricing revenue, projects like the Second Avenue subway “may stall for years—or forever.”

“The delays and disruptions of the past will increase once again,” he added.