The Trucking Association of New York has filed a lawsuit aiming to stop the MTA from rolling out its congestion pricing plan.

The suit, filed one month before the plan is set to take effect, claims the tolling structure “unfairly targets trucking and logistic companies, which are charged far higher rates than passenger vehicles,” the association said in a release.

What You Need To Know

  • The Trucking Association of New York has filed a lawsuit aiming to stop the MTA from rolling out its congestion pricing plan

  • The suit, filed one month before the plan is set to take effect, claims the tolling structure “unfairly targets trucking and logistic companies, which are charged far higher rates than passenger vehicles."

  • The trade group represents more than 550 trucking industry companies, according to its website. The MTA declined to comment on the lawsuit

The trade group represents more than 550 trucking industry companies, according to its website.

“This lawsuit was a step we took only out of necessity after the MTA repeatedly refused to make any concessions to our industry and ultimately used our essential, hard-working members as a tool to meet their arbitrary funding requirements,” Kendra Hems, the association’s president, said in a statement. “We hope that we can, through this litigation process, create a more equitable and fair policy that works for New York City.”

The MTA on Thursday declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Congestion pricing, which is slated to take effect June 30, will impose a $15 base fare for cars with E-ZPass tags entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. Exemptions have already been laid out, and tolling mechanisms are in place.

Small trucks will pay $24 and large trucks will pay $36. Both will get a 75% discount overnight.

There will be a $5 rebate for drivers, including trucks, going through the Holland, Lincoln, Hugh Carey, and Queens Midtown tunnels. The rebate, however, won’t apply overnight.

The MTA has said the plan will reduce traffic and improve air quality in Manhattan. Funds from the plan will go towards infrastructure improvements to public transit.

In its release, the Trucking Association of New York noted that its members are “not fundamentally opposed to congestion pricing despite taking the step to bring legal action.”

“TANY is fighting to overturn the current version of this plan as it believes it is unconstitutional, and hopes to improve the plan to reduce its adverse impacts and introduce parity for the logistics industry,” the release said. “Potential fixes that would alleviate the grievance include a complete toll exemption for essential industries, a once-a-day limit on tolls levied against trucks, or a middle ground approach that would introduce pricing parity between trucks and passenger vehicles.”

The plan also faces lawsuits from Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella, one of the city’s teachers’ unions, some Lower Manhattan residents, and the governor of New Jersey.