MTA cut bus service after Gov. Hochul's congestion pricing pause, lawsuit alleges

The MTA has quietly cut bus service in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan by 10% due to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pause of congestion pricing, the transit workers union and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams allege in a new lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, asks a judge to block the MTA from proceeding with the service cuts. While the MTA disputed that it was reducing service, the lawsuit alleges that commuters are already bearing the brunt of Hochul’s decision to halt congestion pricing . The MTA had planned to raise $15 billion through the tolling program.

“The planned reductions in service will increase the wait time between buses, and bus crowding at a time when passenger crowding presents an ongoing health hazard,” the lawsuit states.

The news site The City first reported on the lawsuit filed by Williams and Transport Workers Union Local 100. The union says that on July 12 – just over a month after Hochul paused the tolling program – the MTA began cutting the number of buses leaving from depots daily. The agency made the move “to save bus driver pay, which on these cut runs, was generally paid at an overtime rate,” according to the suit.

The suit argues that the cuts violate state laws requiring the MTA give 30 days notice to the mayor and City Council about non-emergency reductions to service.

Since Hochul's last-minute pause on congestion pricing just weeks before it was set to go into effect, the MTA has been reviewing its nearly $55 billion capital plan and picking which projects should be shelved. The agency quickly outlined projects that would be put on ice, like new signals on the A, B, C D, F and M lines and accessibility upgrades at 23 stations.

The agency is preparing an update for later this month on the financial impact to the operations budget, which covers the cost of keeping trains and buses running.

The MTA has maintained that the hole in its budget due to the congestion pricing pause will not result in service cuts.

“Apparently now it's silly season and some union leaders need that explained in court,” MTA spokesperson Tim Minton said, taking aim at Transport Workers Union Local President Richie Davis.

The lawsuit comes ahead of another expected legal challenge taking aim directly at Hochul’s pause of the tolls. City Comptroller Brad Lander has said he is preparing a lawsuit alleging Hochul’s pause violated environmental laws.