Congestion Pricing Delay Will Stop Billions in Subway Upgrades

Transit leaders in New York City are preparing to scale back billions of dollars’ worth of upgrades to the nation’s largest transit network after Gov. Kathy Hochul halted a tolling program that would have paid for improvements and repairs.

During its first meeting after Ms. Hochul’s decision to halt the program, the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday viewed presentations from the authority’s staff detailing sweeping project cuts that prioritize only the most critical repairs.

Gone were plans to make subway stations more accessible to riders with disabilities, repairs to some nearly century-old infrastructure and the expansion of the Second Avenue subway line, among other now-deferred projects.

The board has yet to officially revise its capital plans but did pass a resolution on Wednesday to remain prepared to put the congestion pricing program into effect once it gets the green light from Albany. Governor Hochul has not indicated when that might be.

The governor has said that congestion pricing puts at risk New York’s recovery from the pandemic. She has said that the city’s economy was still too fragile to contend with a new toll on drivers and that she feared that commuters would have yet another reason in the age of remote work not to return to the office.

Her reversal was applauded by a growing chorus of opponents who had accused the M.T.A. of unfairly targeting car commuters to plug its budget shortfalls.

The money raised from New York City’s congestion pricing program had already been counted on to help repair a transportation network that moves more people than any other on the continent.

It would have charged most drivers $15 to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan starting June 30, with the aim of reining in traffic while generating money that is badly needed to modernize New York’s round-the-clock subway. But when Ms. Hochul earlier this month rescinded her support for starting congestion pricing as scheduled, she effectively blocked many of the transit system’s renovations. Ms. Hochul has vowed to find alternative sources of funding for the M.T.A.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.