Federal transportation officials allowed New York to move ahead with congestion pricing without fully addressing how traffic and pollution would be shifted to its neighbors across the Hudson River as drivers avoid the new tolls, a lawyer for the State of New Jersey argued in federal court on Wednesday.
Now, as traffic patterns change, those New Jersey communities will be forced to shoulder the environmental burdens of the tolling program while New York receives all the benefits, the lawyer, Randy M. Mastro, said in his opening remarks in New Jersey’s lawsuit against congestion pricing.
“It isn’t about whether you like or don’t like congestion pricing,” Mr. Mastro said in a courtroom in Newark.
The issue is whether the Federal Highway Administration “took a hard look” at the potential environmental effects.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency overseeing congestion pricing in New York, has repeatedly said that New Jersey communities were extensively studied in an environmental assessment.
Persons:
Randy M, Mastro, Mr, Administration “, John J, McCarthy
Organizations:
State, New, Federal, Administration, Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Locations:
New York, State of New Jersey, New Jersey, New, Newark