Mayor Bloomberg still touting congestion-pricing plan
BY FRANK LOMBARDI and ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU
Tuesday, October 9th 2007


Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that his congestion-pricing plan is a good thing for mass transit in the city - even though it would cost the MTA an extra $767 million to set up and $104 million a year to operate.

"We need mass transit in places that it's not currently existing, and we need mass transit that is faster and we need mass transit that is better and more pleasurable," Bloomberg said. Bloomberg's plan would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to drive into Manhattan below 86th St. on weekdays. He claims it would keep 112,000 cars and trucks off the streets each day and generate $380 million a year for mass transit.

The federal government has awarded New York $354 million to set up a congestion-pricing system, but the MTA says in a new report that it needs far more money to accommodate all the people who would stop driving into Manhattan.

"Successful implementation of the city plan will require the MTA to provide a full complement of new and enhanced service," the report says. "Neither the operating nor capital costs associated with these improvements are provided for."

The MTA said it would need 309 new buses to serve additional riders, including 12 new express routes in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, and 46 new subway cars to run more frequently on the 1, E and F lines and to make C trains longer.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/09/2007-10-09_mayor_bloomberg_still_touting_congestion.html?print=1