Well, it was nice while it lasted. A letter from U.S. transportation secretary Sean Duffy to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, indicates an end to congestion pricing in New York City. The system, 20 years in the making, went into effect on January 5. Passenger vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street are charged $9, with proceeds earmarked to fund transit projects for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The letter sent from the U.S. Department of Transportations Federal Highway Administration to Hochul on Wednesday, February 19 said the Central Business District Tolling Program (CBDTP), part of the Value Pricing Pilot Program (VPPP), will be terminated. Duffy called the program backwards and unfair. A timeline for when exactly when the program will be shuttered has not yet been determined.In the letter, Duffy outlines the administrations reasoning to shut down the program. These include the effects it has on working class individuals. Duffy also suggested that congestion pricings revenue should be pooled for making highway infrastructure improvements, rather than funding MTA projects. The letter mentions the Federal-Aid Act of 1916, legislation that requires that roads funded via federal money be free of tolls; Congress can approve an exception, but did not grant one for CBDTP. As for how its been going, in the days following the enactment of congestion pricing, traffic studies indicated gridlock lessened, with an average of 43,800 fewer vehicles per day, or 219,000 fewer vehicles per week.Theres so much evidence that people are experiencing a much less traffic-congested environment, said Janno Lieber, the chairman and chief executive of the MTA. Theyre seeing streets that are moving more efficiently, and theyre hearing less noise, and theyre feeling a less tense environment around tunnels and bridges.The move to red light the program doesnt come as a total shock. While there was pushback before it went into effect, its opposition continued to rally against congestion pricing even after January 5. On January 20, the day of Trumps inauguration, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy wrote a letter to Trump urging him to stop congestion pricing, calling it a disaster for working and middle-class New Jersey commuters and residents. He asked that it be examined again by the federal government. It appears he got his way.