JERSEY CITY, N.J. (PIX11) -- Many New Jersey drivers are rejoicing, for now, after the MTA's once-impending congestion pricing program was paused indefinitely.
"It's good news," said Hector Rodriguez of Hoboken. "Right now I'm not even working, so it's kind of hard for people to be paying extra money to go into one place."
Rodriguez tells us he's always believed the plan to charge New Jersey drivers entering Manhattan below 60th Street was not the way to go.
"You have to scatter yourself around New York and pay one price for one place to go, it's ridiculous."
"They stop it? It's a very good idea," Aboubacar Gouem, an Uber driver from The Bronx. "Especially people who live in New Jersey, they come into the City to work, and they have to pay the toll? And after, pay congestion price? I believe it's too much."
"[A] huge win for hard-working New Jersey families," said Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who had been one of the most outspoken opponents of congestion pricing. "For right now, people, they're going to save thousands of dollars, hard-working folks are going to save thousands of dollars a year."
Gottheimer calls this a win not only for peoples' wallets, but also the environment, in particular, on the New Jersey side.
"I was very worried about the cancer-causing pollution that would plume into Northern Jersey and the Outer Boroughs," said Gottheimer.
Governor Phil Murphy, who had previously called the MTA's congestion pricing plan a '"blatant cash grab," said in a statement, in part, quote:
"We fully embrace the notion that the success of Manhattan is inextricably linked to the prosperity of the entire tri-state area... Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams have been strong, collaborative governing partners and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them for the benefit of all of our residents.”
The State also filed a lawsuit to stop the congestion pricing plan entirely. A judge's decision is expected soon.
