Racing to get ahead of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York on Thursday announced the resurrection of a congestion pricing program that would toll drivers who enter the busiest parts of Manhattan.
Ms. Hochul, who had canceled the tolling plan abruptly in June just weeks before it was scheduled to begin, said that she would salvage it by reducing rates as she sought to appease critics who said the fees were too high.
The retooled congestion pricing plan would charge the drivers of most passenger cars $9 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street during peak hours, down from the previously approved rate of $15. The program would begin in January, she added.
Mr. Trump has vowed to kill congestion pricing, and Ms. Hochul is now trying to push the plan through before he takes office. The revised plan is expected to go before the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority next week for approval.
But questions remain about whether the lower fee will be sufficient to achieve one of the program’s primary goals: helping raise $15 billion for the M.T.A. to pay for critical repairs and upgrades to New York’s public transit system.
On Thursday, Ms. Hochul announced a 40 percent reduction to the previously approved tolling structure.
The New York Times