BNN Bloomberg reports, “New York could start charging drivers $15 to enter Manhattan as soon as mid-June, a lawyer for the state’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority told a [federal] judge at a hearing on New Jersey’s lawsuit to block the plan. The MTA may decide on the final tolling structure by the end of March, attorney Mark Chertok told Judge Leo Gordon during a status conference [yesterday] in Newark. That would lead to several further steps in the approval process.” According to MTA’s lawyer, once MTA adopts a tolling structure, it will be reviewed by FHWA to ensure its compliance with the program’s environmental assessment, and federal and state officials will then enter an agreement to allow tolling to start. In view of the timeline suggested by counsel, Judge Gordon — he was recently assigned the case — scheduled oral arguments to begin as soon as April 3. However, there is still a possibility that litigation may disrupt MTA’s implementation schedule.
