New York City congestion pricing is likely to remain through the summer

NEW YORK — New York’s $9 congestion toll on most drivers entering Manhattan appears likely to remain through the summer and possibly into the fall as a lawsuit seeking to stop the Trump administration from ending the program moves forward.

New York and federal officials agreed to a briefing schedule that calls for court filings into October, possibly earlier, according to a letter Friday to the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit. Federal officials also said they have no plans to seek an injunction that would stop the tolls while the lawsuit proceeds.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who called the toll a “slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners,” set an April 20 deadline for New York to end the congestion pricing system and has threatened to withhold federal funding from the state. But New York officials say they won’t stop the toll.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the regional transit agency, filed a lawsuit challenging Duffy’s decision to rescind the toll’s federal approval in February. Congestion pricing advocates say it’s meant to deter drivers and relieve traffic backups while providing millions of dollars in new revenue to the city’s beleaguered transit system.

The U.S. Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which represents Duffy in the lawsuit, declined to comment.

The MTA also declined to comment, saying Friday’s letter speaks for itself.

An initial pretrial conference is scheduled for Wednesday.

The fee started Jan. 5 on most drivers entering Manhattan south of Central Park. Drivers already paid tolls to cross bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.

President Donald Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower and other properties are within the congestion zone, vowed to kill the plan as soon as he took office in January.