New York City’s transit system started charging motorists on Jan. 5 a fee to drive into crowded midtown Manhattan. The aim of this congestion pricing initiative, the first in the US, is to reduce traffic and pollution while raising money for the city’s subways,

President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday ordered a halt to congestion pricing tolls in New York City, which thin traffic and fund mass transit by making people pay to drive into Manhattan’s core.

Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said New York’s first-in-the-nation fee, meant to ease gridlock and reduce emissions, was a “slap in the face” to working-class Americans.