It looks like Jersey drivers will be hit with an extra toll when heading into Manhattan.

The federal Department of Transportation gave New York the green light to move ahead with congestion pricing.

Charging drivers anywhere from nine to $23 more if they enter south of 60th street.

And that's not sitting well with folks on this side of the river.

Governor Murphy and lawmakers are vowing to fight it, even if it means taking legal action.

Melissa Rose Cooper reports.

New York has mass transit that is failing, that needs billions of dollars worth of improvements and upgrades and renovation and to not ask their riders to pay for that is ridiculous.

To ask New Jersey drivers to pay for New York subway riders does not make any sense.

Ron Simoncini, senior executive director of the Fair Congestion Pricing Alliance, expressing his disappointment over the federal government's approval of New York City's congestion pricing plan.

The measure, aimed at alleviating traffic in Lower Manhattan while reducing the city's carbon footprint, would implement a proposed toll of up to $23 for drivers entering below 60th street.

That includes New Jerseyans driving into the city for work.

The average commuter that crosses the George Washington Bridge makes $100,000.

This congestion pricing plan will add 5000 to $6,000 to their competition costs per year.

That's 5% of their salary not 5% of the Take-Home pay.

It's 8% of their Take-Home pay, just so they can continue to make the same commute they made before.

No one's going to survive that.

But these vehicles have another alternative, an incredible alternative called public transportation.

Not every city has that.

But some New Jersey lawmakers believe the plan not only unfairly targets Jersey residents, but also will have the opposite effect on what it's intended to improve.

What will happen is by New York's own reporting, you'll have a lot more trucks going in the G.W.

Bridge and the outer boroughs plumbing off the pollutants, including carcinogens like formaldehyde.

And you have all these backups of trucks on the G.W.

Bridge and into the outer boroughs.

And then they probably will see a huge increase of car traffic at the Holland and the Lincoln Tunnel, which will lead to more congestion and more pollution.

Advocates disagree.

Less than 2% of New Jersey commuters to the Central Business District come in by car for work And that's pre-COVID numbers.

And as we know, a lot of people work from home now.

So in terms of drivers for work coming into the central business district from New Jersey, we're actually talking about a very small number of people.

Already, the vast majority of people use transit, whether that's PATH, New Jersey Transit, buses and then transferring once they get to New York on to the MTA subway and bus network.

Felicia Park Rodgers says other cities like London, where congestion pricing has been a practice for years, are proof it works.

Less active transportation, congestion and gridlock on the streets.

More safety crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists have gone down by 30% in London.

And that's significant.

And we are at our highest rates in New Jersey and in New York right now for those types of crashes.

And also, it will bring $15 billion into the transit system, which we should see increase our signal speeds.

New rolling stock, more accessibility on the subway.

70% of commuters from New Jersey who come into the central business district for work go on to the MTA.

So they're going to have better transit and transportation once they get here to help them get to work and to their whatever they're reaching in New York City.

We have to think about ways to reduce our carbon footprint in the not just in the state, but in the region.

Right.

And usually the transportation the transportation sector tends to be a larger contribution to that carbon footprint.

And so attacking it in more creative ways is really important.

There's no confirmed price for the congestion toll or when it will go into effect yet.

But Governor Phil Murphy has already hired a pair of high powered attorneys, Randy Mastro and Craig Carpenito to explore the possible legal options for New Jersey to stop the plan.

Murphy spokesman said the governor will continue to stand resolutely against the tolling scheme that will disproportionately burden environmental justice communities and severely harm our commuters and transit agencies.

For NJ Spotlight News.

I'm Melissa Rose Cooper.