At the start of June, New York governor Kathy Hochul made an about-turn on the promised congestion pricing scheme that had been intended for rollout later the same month, delaying it “indefinitely.” Despite the hard-won agreement of city officials, residents, and business groups, she cited the vulnerability of New York businesses as a reason for her reversal.

Perhaps more than any other congestion pricing plan, New York’s “congestion relief zone” would have directly tied toll revenues to improvements to the suburban reaches of its mass transit systems. Indeed, the funding arrangements for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) have placed an increasing burden on state authorities. This has lent urgency to calls to get the program ready for its June launch.

Hochul’s U-turn will significantly set back the cause of improving air quality and urban space in New York, losing a moment of political consensus that will be challenging to replicate. More pressingly, it leaves a billion-dollar-plus hole in the MTA’s annual budget as aging trains and infrastructure hit reliability and capacity limits. Hochul suggested following questioning that a levy on New York City businesses could make up the shortfall – businesses that she had just claimed would be hard-hit by the congestion charge. It is reasonable to assume, with the November election approaching fast, that her decision was largely motivated by electoral considerations, rather than any practical need for delay.