Kudos to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a few key legislators in Albany, New York for not giving up on the congestion pricing plan for Manhattan.

According to a piece in today's Los Angeles Times:

The congestion pricing deal is a partial victory for the mayor, who had all but thrown in the towel this week after Albany failed to approve his plan and the city missed a "drop dead" deadline to be eligible for the federal funding he believes is needed for starter costs and mass transit improvements to make congestion pricing work…

Bloomberg's proposal, similar to systems in London and Singapore, calls for an $8 toll for cars and a $21 toll for trucks entering Manhattan's most heavily traveled business district during workdays. The money would pay for transportation improvements.

Of course, it ain't over until it's over as Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says:

the debate and the negotiations have just begun.

For readers interested in a minute-by-minute account of the flurry of activity in Albany yesterday afternoon, the NY Times City Room blog has it all, beginning with this comment from Joseph L. Bruno, the New York Senate majority leader:

I believe we’re being successful and if not right now, within minutes, we will announce a definitive agreement between the governor, the Assembly and the Senate, and as relates to congestion pricing, with the mayor, with a plan that will be forwarded to the feds, the Department of Transportation.

Thanks, too, to my friend David, who has kept me current on all the congestion pricing developments. David an his wife recently moved to Manhattan from Jackson (go figure). After a brief fling with a PR agency, David has gotten re-involved with alternative transportation advocacy–a noble pursuit, indeed.

Carbon Neutral Journal's kudos are brought to you by Grand Targhee Resort.

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