The UFT, along with seven New York City public school teachers and the Staten Island borough president, filed a federal lawsuit on Jan. 4 seeking to halt the implementation of congestion pricing in Manhattan.

The suit charges that the plan’s potential negative impact on traffic and air quality in the surrounding areas was not adequately studied, and the “regressive and discriminatory pricing” of the tolls violates the constitutional rights of the individual plaintiffs.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s program would charge drivers $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends. The MTA gave preliminary approval for the rates in early December. The public comment period ends on March 11, after which the MTA will take a final vote. It plans to introduce the tolls this spring.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew said the program, whose goal is to reduce traffic and air pollution in lower Manhattan, would only shift these problems to neighboring areas, particularly the Bronx, upper Manhattan, Staten Island and northern New Jersey. He said it would particularly harm commuters who live in “transit deserts” without reasonable public transportation options.

“This is simply a money grab because they’re going to raise the money off the working and middle class of this city,” he said.

The MTA designed the plan to generate about $1 billion a year for subway, bus and rail system improvements. A typical commuter would have to pay another $3,000 annually to drive below 60th Street in Manhattan.

The lawsuit claims the plan was created in a “rushed and hurried process that violated the comprehensive review requirements that a federal agency must take under federal law.”

In its court documents, the union cited questions and concerns raised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA, when asked to review the air pollution assessment, said there wasn’t enough data for it to sign off on the plan. Instead, the EPA recommended more robust air-quality modeling, particularly in areas with historical environmental justice concerns.

Since the lawsuit was filed in early January, 12 federal, state and local lawmakers have joined the lawsuit, along with the Municipal Labor Committee, which represents about 400,000 city workers, including UFT members; the A. Philip Randolph Institute; the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.

Of the seven UFT members who were among the original plaintiffs, five are Staten Island residents, one is a Rockland County resident who teaches in the Bronx and the seventh is a northern New Jersey resident who teaches in Manhattan. Six are teachers and one is a speech pathologist.

One of the Staten Island plaintiffs is Troy McGhie, a 9th-grade special education teacher and dean at Curtis HS on the north shore of Staten Island.

“I totally understand New York City’s idea of trying to reduce traffic in downtown Manhattan, and I understand that they want to get a new revenue source for the MTA,” he said. “My problem is the issue they are trying to address in downtown Manhattan, they are only recreating in other places.”

McGhie said anyone who wants to avoid the $15 congestion pricing fee could park on the North Shore and cross to Manhattan on the Staten Island Ferry. That would result in more traffic and air pollution in a part of Staten Island that already has high rates of asthma, he said. Three elementary schools and two high schools are within a two-mile radius on the North Shore.