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The congestion pricing tolling system will start June 30 below 60th Street in Manhattan, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Friday.

“An update on our congestion pricing program: Tolling will begin at midnight on June 30, 2024,” the MTA wrote in a post on social media platform X. “Low-income discounts, along with disability and other exemptions, are available to eligible drivers & vehicles. Applications for those are now open.”

NJBIZ has reported extensively on the hot-button issue. The MTA’s congestion pricing plan has received strong pushback from leaders and stakeholders on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. It’s also subject to several lawsuits, including one brought by the state – with officials vowing to continue fighting.

The tolling plan was officially approved by the MTA board last month. Some toplines include:

• Peak periods from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. Overnight rates will be 75% less than peak rates
• A $15 toll for passenger and small commercial vehicles during peak and $3.75 during the overnight period (charged only once per day)
• A $7.50 toll for motorcycles during peak and $1.75 during overnight (charged only once per day)
• $24 and $36 tolls for trucks and buses, respectively, during peak and $6 and $9 during overnight
• Taxi and for-hire vehicle passengers will be charged a per-trip toll paid by the passenger for each trip to, from, within or through the Congestion Relief Zone. For peak and overnight, the toll for app-based for-hire vehicles will be $2.50 per trip – for taxis, green cabs and black cars, the toll will be $1.25 per trip

More information and particulars are the tolling plan can be found here.

MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber appeared on “Newsline with Brigitte Quinn” on WCBS 880 Friday to officially announce the start date and discuss next steps.

“The date we are going to start congestion pricing is June 30 – that’s a Sunday. So, it will start at midnight-Saturday night going into Sunday,” Lieber told Quinn. “And just reminding folks, on the overnights it’s $3.75. There’s a 75% discount. But we’re excited. This is something New Yorkers have been waiting for for years and years. It took 4,000 pages of analytics and five years of study. But we are here – and we’re going to get cleaner air, better traffic. And for the people who have to drive, hopefully less congestion. That is a major benefit as well as the money to invest in the subway system.”

Quinn asked about Jersey lawsuits and pushback.

“I obviously disagree. We’re moving forward. We have the federal government’s approval. They’re suing the federal government. They’re suing Joe Biden for approving congestion pricing – which we applied to do in response to a federal program,” said Lieber. “So, New Jersey is against the federal government. I don’t think they are going to win. And we’re planning to move forward because New York depends on mass transit. The city could only exist at our density because of mass transit. June 30th – all the years and years of talk are going to come to an end. We’re going to start this. I’m thrilled.”

Gov. Phil Murphy’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the announcement of the start date – and has not issued a public statement as of the writing of this story.

But he was asked about it by News 12 New Jersey’s Eric Landskroner during his monthly call-in show Thursday.

In regard to the lawsuit, which awaits a judge’s decision following recent arguments, Murphy did not have a specific idea of when that ruling would come down.

“The judge implied that he knows that time is of the essence – because the MTA and New York have said that they want to put this plan in place in June, I believe,” said Murphy. “So, I think the judge – if you read his comments – it sounds like that he gets that time frame.”

“And just last week the MTA’s Chairman (Lieber) said that New Jersey will get its cut of congestion pricing,” said Landskroner. “Exactly on the arithmetic, his tone was a little bit flippant. Congressman Gottheimer calls our share ‘crumbs.’ So can I get you to weigh in on that?”

“You betcha. We don’t even know what our share is. I think he (Lieber) made that statement to a reporter. The judge, by the way, to his credit – has been convening both sides regularly, and that’s never come up in his chambers to the best of my knowledge,” said Murphy. “Listen, the MTA has fumbled this from moment one. Conceptually, is congestion pricing – is reducing pollution a good thing? Clearly.”

Murphy pointed to New Jersey’s environmental record under his administration.

“How could you be for pollution? We get that. But you can’t fund it on the back of our commuters,” said Murphy. “And by the way, this is about bailing the MTA out. It’s not about pollution – sadly. And they want to do it on the back of our commuters. Secondly, which is why we’ve sued the federal government to do what they call an environmental impact statement – they’re just displacing pollution from the Central Business District in Manhattan to Hudson and Bergen counties in New Jersey. We’re not going to stand for that.”

The governor said he laughs when he hears New Jersey will get something.

“Really? Let’s put the money on the table. Let’s see what that looks like,” said Murphy. “We’re willing to sit at a table and be reasonable. But we’re not fools. As they say, we were born in the morning – not yesterday morning.”

The governor’s office shared a statement with NJBIZ from outside counsel Randy Mastro, of law firm King & Spalding, who said, “Not so fast. We are awaiting a court ruling as early as next month on whether the MTA’s unprecedented congestion pricing scheme can go forward, given the obvious deficiencies in the environmental review that was done here and the lack of mitigation provided for New Jersey’s environmental justice communities.

“And that is only one of the many pending and anticipated lawsuits challenging this hugely flawed plan,” Mastro added. “So the jury is still out.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:52 p.m. ET April 26, 2024, to include a statement from the governor’s office’s outside counsel. This is a developing situation – please stay with NJBIZ for the latest.