Vehicle toll proposal for N.Y. gets new fuel

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to reduce midtown Manhattan traffic by collecting tolls from vehicles that travel to the city on weekdays got a major boost Tuesday when the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it would pay $354 million to launch the plan.

Still, “congestion pricing” is hardly a done deal. The city won’t get the money unless state legislators approve Bloomberg’s plan or an alternative to it within 90 days of reconvening -- roughly by the end of March, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said at a news conference.

So far, all state lawmakers have agreed to do is appoint a commission to study the plan. That commission’s recommendations, expected by Jan. 31, must then be brought back to the City Council and state Legislature for final approval.

“This is a very significant piece of what we need to begin this process,” said Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who answered questions on the announcement with Bloomberg at an affordable-housing news conference in the Bronx on Tuesday. “We feel great that we will get this done.”

The mayor’s plan is to charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan below 86th Street on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Motorists within the zone would also have to pay, but the charges would be lower. Bloomberg said it would be a way to reduce congestion and pollution while creating a steady source of money for transit improvements.

Some lawmakers from Long Island and the four boroughs outside Manhattan have said it would squeeze their constituents who commute into the city; stress public transportation; and cause parking problems outside the toll areas.

“We’re not married to any one plan; we’re married to reducing congestion so the economy isn’t hurt and so our air is better,” Bloomberg said. The $354 million, which Bloomberg says he will use to pay for the plan’s start-up costs, is about $150 million less than the city had asked for, but about $150 million more than the amount the Legislature set as a minimum for the commission to proceed.