The congestion pricing battle isn’t over, at least not on this side of the river. In his first public comments since the plan went into effect, Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday said his office is reviewing all remaining legal options to defeat the toll, which charges most drivers an extra $9 to enter Manhattan south of 60th street.
On Wednesday, Murphy called “outrageous” the Federal Highway Administration’s approval of the first-in-the-nation congestion tolls, despite acknowledging the need for more review of the full environmental impact.
Yet Murphy is also facing criticism for rejecting what New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called “very generous” offers to settle the case outside of court. Sources within her office have said New Jersey left significant money on the table during failed negotiations. That potentially could have propped up the beleaguered New Jersey Transit system and helped prioritize other mass transit projects, like a new bus terminal in Manhattan.
New reporting from Politico New Jersey indicates Murphy may not have left all that much on the table, depending on how you interpret the word “generous.”
“That’s $500 million that would have gone toward the Midtown bus terminal in Manhattan, which is obviously used by a lot of New Jersey commuters coming to and from work,” said Politico reporter Ry Rivard in an interview with NJ Spotlight News.
“Our understanding is that New York thought this was a great deal, because they hadn’t committed to paying for this,” he said. “Whereas on the New Jersey side, there’s the impression that this is money New York would have been paying anyway as part of a split that’s typically done for Port Authority projects.”
“I think there’s been the impression among critics of Gov. Murphy that he turned down money that was directly towards, say, buying a new bus or buying a new train for New Jersey Transit,” added Rivard. “And those things really weren’t on the table.”
