This bill, titled the Motorist Tax Abuse Act, would amend the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to ban cordon pricing within New York City’s Central Business District Tolling Program as part of the federal value pricing pilot program. In practice, if enacted, the Secretary of Transportation would be barred from establishing or maintaining any congestion-based tolling that charges drivers for entering or traveling within a defined central business district in NYC under the federal value pricing pilot program. The sponsor appears to be Rep. Malliotakis, and the measure was introduced in the 119th Congress. In short, the bill directly prohibits a form of congestion pricing—charging drivers to enter a busy downtown area—as part of a federally supported tolling pilot program for NYC. The prohibition is narrowly targeted to the Central Business District Tolling Program in New York City and does not of itself repeal other tolling or pricing authorities outside this specific program.
Key Points
- 1Prohibits cordon pricing for the Central Business District Tolling Program in New York City under the value pricing pilot program, effectively blocking congestion pricing in that specific NYC tolling context.
- 2The prohibition is added to Section 1012(b) of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, creating a new subsection that states the Secretary may not establish or maintain cordon pricing for NYC’s CBD tolling under the value pricing pilot program.
- 3The change is narrowly scoped to the NYC CBD tolling program; it does not address other potential pricing approaches or congestion management strategies outside this program.
- 4The bill does not specify any funding or fiscal appropriations; its effect is regulatory, preventing a federal program from implementing this pricing mechanism in NYC.
- 5The bill is titled the “Motorist Tax Abuse Act” and was introduced in the House (H.R. 352) in January 2025, with Rep. Malliotakis as the sponsor and referral to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.