NYC commuters urge MTA to shut down toll cameras as congestion pricing confusion reigns: Who is this helping?

Congestion pricing opponents called on the MTA to shut down its toll cameras Thursday — as commuters expressed confusion about whether they’ll continue being charged the $9 tax.Drivers in the Manhattan congestion tolling zone south of 60th Street were left puzzled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Gov.Kathy Hochul’s vow to fight the Trump administration over its Wednesday announcement that it was yanking approval for the much-hated program.“The governor should have done the right thing and shut the readers off,” said Charlton D’Souza, president of Passengers United, a subway rider group that opposed congestion pricing.“I think congestion pricing should end.

They should turn (the cameras) off right away,” he said.In a letter to Hochul Wednesday, US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he was revoking approval for the first-in-the-nation program implemented just six weeks prior, calling it “a slap in the face” to working-class Americans.The MTA almost immediately filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court to stop the administration from pulling the plug, with its Chairman and CEO Janno Lieber vowing “we’re not turning off the tolls.” “Until ruled otherwise, the congestion pricing cameras are staying on.We are keeping the cameras on.

Lights, cameras, action.They’re staying on!” Hochul added in a defiant press conference with Lieber Wednesday afternoon.Duffy didn’t say when the $9 fee would cease being collected, only noting in his letter that the feds would work with New York state on an “orderly termination” of the tolls.But any hope of a seamless transition out of the scheme has likely been derailed by the MTA’s lawsuit and Lieber and Hochul’s defiant rhetoric — and New York drivers fumed to The Post about how the state’s refusal to heed the Trump administration’s orders was sowing confusion.“They should shut it down until we see what happens in court, added Tony Nefredro, a 50-year...