bidens-dot-lifts-roadblock-congestion-pricing-nyc

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The Federal Department of Transportation has finally lifted the administrative hurdle for New York to begin charging drivers to enter Manhattan below 60th Street, two months after congestion pricing was supposed to go into effect.

On Tuesday, the Federal Highway Administration, which is now overseen by President Joe Biden's federal DOT Commissioner Pete Buttigieg, said the project would move forward under the assessment. "An EA generally requires less time to complete than an Environmental Impact Statement should no significant impacts be identified," the Federal Highway Administration wrote in a statement concerning the announcement.

Both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio praised the announcement. “We need congestion pricing," said de Blasio, a former congestion pricing skeptic, at his daily morning press conference. "We need to make sure we have the resources to bring back the subways and buses strong. We need obviously to continue to address congestion itself. This is really good news.”

I will tell you it was wrong for Buttigieg to say this will proceed under an Environmental Assessment. The overall Environmental Clearance is a process. I am here to tell you if there is enough public and publicity against these tolls/taxes, it will push the Environmental Assessment to an Environmental Impact Statement… that is if the political hacks don’t give marching orders to the professionals who are responsible for these studies, and then the professionals responsible for evaluating these studies don’t tell the political hacks “I won’t do your dirty work”.