(Bloomberg) — New York’s controversial plan to charge drivers entering Manhattan’s central business district was cleared by a federal judge to take effect on Sunday, in a blow to efforts by neighboring New Jersey to kill the congestion toll.
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Judge Leo Gordon on Friday rejected New Jersey’s request for a pause while the Federal Highway Administration responds to the judge’s order for more information on the plan’s potential impact on traffic patterns and pollution in the Garden State.
The ruling, issued after an extended hearing in Newark, caps a high-stakes showdown between the two states, with billions of dollars in toll revenue on the line for modernizing New York’s more than century-old transit system. It comes after a detailed decision Monday in which Gordon dismissed most of New Jersey’s concerns but ordered the US to provide the extra information by Jan. 17 and set deadlines for further court filings into February.
The congestion pricing plan has spurred fierce opposition from some environmental groups, commuters and even President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to take office on Jan. 20 and has vowed to stop it. New Jersey argued the plan would increase congestion and pollution by drivers looking to avoid the toll by using its bridges as alternate routes.
–With assistance from Michelle Kaske and Chris Dolmetsch.
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