Schenectady – On Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the end of congestion pricing in Manhattan, dropping the fare from the originally planned $15 to $9. The state says the change will save commuters $1,500.

The governor halted the implementation in June, and on Thursday continued to deny any connection to the election and keeping Democratic seats. Hochul says she wanted her team to find a more affordable solution in recent months.

While many Republicans and even some suburban Democrats spoke out against the announcement, environmental advocates applauded the move.

This comes as those same advocates, in the wake of an impending Trump Administration, are pushing for Governor Hochul to push harder to implement the CLCPA Act of 2019, along with the Climate Change Overfund Act and the NY Heat Act.