New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, promised Thursday that a controversial proposed congestion charge for motor vehicles will be implemented by the end of the year in the center of the megacity, just before entry into function of Donald Trump in the White House who opposes it.
The governor of the state had given up at the last minute in June on this emblematic project, the first in the United States, an abandonment in the form of a victory for local Republican elected officials and the neighboring state of New Jersey, which also reflected the difficulty of attacking motorists in a country where the car is still king.
She relaunched it Thursday in a watered-down form, with a rate of $9 — and no longer $15 — for vehicles entering the center of the island of Manhattan, promising its entry into force in January 2025.
“I’m proud to announce that we’ve found a way to fund the MTA, reduce traffic congestion and save our riders millions of dollars,” she said. -she announced.
This project, a veritable sea serpent of local political life, is intended to reduce air pollution while financing the metro, criticized for its cost ($2.90 per trip) and its obsolescence.
But a group of Republican elected officials in the House of Representatives immediately asked Donald Trump, who will take office as President of the United States, to prevent the project from coming into force.
To enter into force, the project must be ratified by the Biden administration, which has said it is in favor of it. The schedule chosen by the governor is supposed to prevent Donald Trump from vetoing it once in the White House, as he promised to do during his campaign.
