President Donald Trump of the United States has given New York City a deadline of March 21 to end the congestion pricing program.
The policy was intended to reduce traffic in Manhattan’s central business district and raise money to upgrade aging subway and bus systems.
The US Transportation Department last week rescinded federal approval of the program that had been given under the Republican president’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.
The department set the deadline for ending the program in a letter made public on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, MTA, and a New York bridge authority have filed suit to block the Trump administration’s action.
Recall that New York state Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, met with Trump last Friday in Washington trying to make the case for preserving the program.
In a statement on Wednesday, the MTA said that their position was clear, stressing that the order was not lawful.
According to the letter, the Federal Highway Administration set the deadline to provide time to terminate operations in an orderly manner.
The MTA said on Monday that in January it collected $48.6 million with $11.1 million in expenses and net operating revenue of $37.5 million under the program.
The MTA, which has issued $900 million in debt for the congestion system infrastructure costs and capital projects, projected on Monday that is on track to raise $500 million in net revenue the first year under the program.
Hochul had previously said that funds raised would underpin $15 billion in debt financing for mass transit capital improvements.
Before the fee, New York said more than 700,000 vehicles entered the Manhattan central business district daily, slowing traffic to around 7 miles per hour (11 kph) on average, which is 23% slower than in 2010.