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  The tolling scheme is back on track with a lower price point, and the governor says she’s “looking for support from the federal government to support our shared goals of making this a world-class system.”  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - Five months after suspending the vehicle-tolling initiative aimed at funding transit upgrades, Gov. Kathy Hochul put congestion pricing back on track Thursday — and squarely in the sights of President-elect Donald Trump. At a Midtown news conference as packed as a rush-hour train, Hochul announced that motorists driving south of 60th Street in Manhattan will begin paying a once-daily $9 toll on Jan. 5. The tolls would kick in just over two weeks before the White House return of Trump, who has vowed to “ TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in office.” The governor’s latest reversal on the first-in-the-nation plan came after Hochul in June put an indefinite ...

  Multiple sources say MTA board members will be briefed this week on the governor’s plans to revive the vehicle tolling scheme and bring the base per-day rate down from $15. This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - Gov. Kathy Hochul will on Thursday revive plans to launch the country’s first congestion pricing program — at a reduced once-a-day toll rate of $9, multiple sources told THE CITY. Five months after Hochul paused the Central Business District Tolling Program before its long-planned June 30 launch, sources said she will reverse course by announcing that motorists will be tolled south of 60th Street in Manhattan by late December. “Governor Hochul paused congestion pricing because a daily $15 toll was too much for hard-working New Yorkers in this economic climate,” Avi Small, a Hochul spokesperson, said in a statement Wednesday evening. “[On Thursday] the Governor will announce the path forward to fund mass tran...

  The once and future president months ago said that he would kill the vehicle tolling program, but if Gov. Kathy Hochul acts quickly, there may be hope  This article originally appeared in The City. By  Jose Martinez NEW YORK - The return of former President Donald Trump to the White House could carry big consequences for the financial well being of the country’s largest mass transit system. As the Republican candidate, Trump pledged in August to “TERMINATE Congestion Pricing in my FIRST WEEK back in office,” vowing to put an end to the Manhattan vehicle-tolling program that Gov. Kathy Hochul paused indefinitely in June.  But with a Tuesday night win putting Trump on track to start his second term as president in January, transit and Albany watchdogs warned Wednesday that the clock is ticking if Hochul is to stand any chance of salvaging the tolling program approved by state lawmakers in 2019 .