Congestion Pricing Plan Riles New Jersey Political Leaders

The mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., called New York’s congestion pricing plan “doormat treatment.”

A New Jersey congressman said pricing details disclosed for the first time Wednesday showed that New York was “sticking it to Jersey families.”

And Gov. Philip D. Murphy insisted that he supported congestion pricing “as a conceptual matter,” but not this version of the plan, and not in his backyard.

“Everyone in the region deserves access to more reliable mass transit,” Mr. Murphy, a second-term New Jersey Democrat, said in a statement. “But placing an unjustified financial burden on New Jersey commuters is wrong.”

Supporters of New York’s congestion pricing plan believe it will induce more motorists to use mass transit, curbing both congestion on the city’s busiest roads and vehicle emissions that contribute significantly to climate change. Once the plan is implemented, as early as May, motorists who drive into Midtown and Lower Manhattan — whether they are coming from New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester or anywhere else — will pay significantly more in tolls.

But New Jersey political leaders have been among the loudest and most consistent critics of what will be the first congestion pricing program in the United States.

Mr. Murphy vowed to continue to fight the plan in court. He also said new legal actions were possible.

The congestion pricing plan is expected to generate $1 billion a year in revenue for public transit improvements, including upgrades to the subway and bus networks.

A report released on Thursday by an advisory panel laid out for the first time specific toll rates — for commuters, taxis and companies that rely on trucks to move products in and out of New York City — as well as who would be eligible for discounts and exemptions.

The recommendations, which require final approval from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, stipulated that buses and vans providing “transit and commuter services” would be exempt from the added fee.

More than three in four New Jersey residents who commute into New York already take mass transit, according to an analysis by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.

Drivers who enter Manhattan over the George Washington Bridge are likely to pay an additional $15, on top of the $17.63 toll that cars without E-ZPass are expected to be charged in January. Those entering the new toll zone through the Lincoln or Holland Tunnel would get a $5 credit, and people with household incomes of less than $50,000 would be eligible for discounts, according to the preliminary recommendations from the Traffic Mobility Review Board, which is advising the M.T.A.

Commercial trucks may be charged between $24 and $36, depending on their size. The fees would be about 75 percent lower before 5 a.m. and after 9 p.m. on weekdays, to encourage more overnight deliveries. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, the West Side Highway and parts of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel are excluded from the tolling plan.

Unsurprisingly, surveys have shown that New Jersey residents are largely opposed to paying more to drive into New York City.

“New York is officially sticking it to Jersey families with their commuter-crushing congestion tax,” said Representative Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat who represents towns near the George Washington Bridge, where emissions are expected to increase slightly as drivers hunt for ways to avoid the new toll.

Still, not everyone in New Jersey was displeased.

“It’s easy to kvetch that the plan is unfair to New Jersey,” said Doug O’Malley, the director of Environment New Jersey.

But an underfunded subway system in New York City would be a “disaster on both sides of the Hudson,” Mr. O’Malley said.

John H. Reichman, a leader of Empower NJ, a coalition of 140 environmental and community groups in New Jersey, called the recommendations “fair and sensible.”

He said they would benefit the “vast majority of New Jersey residents who use public transportation to commute into New York.”

“The plan is a win for the entire region,” Mr. Reichman added, “including New Jersey.”

The new tolls cannot be used to pay M.T.A. operating costs, but will enable the agency — which includes the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad — to invest in its infrastructure.

Mr. Murphy controls his own struggling commuter system, New Jersey Transit, which is facing a $1 billion shortfall by 2026. Three private bus companies also recently halted commuter routes, leaving New Jersey riders with fewer options to reach New York City.

New Jersey’s transit woes have led environmental advocates to dog Mr. Murphy at public events, demanding that he pay more attention to his own mass transit mess.

“The best revenge for New Jersey would be to provide dedicated funding for NJ Transit to allow expansion of transit options into New York City,” Mr. O’Malley said.

Ron Simoncini, executive director of the Fair Congestion Pricing Alliance, a coalition of business groups and warehouse and trucking company owners opposed to the tolls, wryly noted that the fees could prove to be a boon to New Jersey.

“The congestion tax is going to save the New Jersey office market,” Mr. Simoncini said. “M.T.A. will definitely succeed in reducing traffic to Midtown — and jobs.”