Breaking: NYC to get $354 million for congestion pricing

Sewell Chan at the Cityroom blog reports that the Feds are kicking back $354 million to the City for Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. This is a victory for the environment, for the MTA which will enjoy the benefits of the plan, and for opponents of a city overrun by automobiles.

However, despite this grant, there is still no guarantee that the congestion pricing plan will escape Albany gridlock. We can only hope for the best. Chan has more:

The secretary of transportation announced this morning that the federal government will provide New York City with $354 million to implement congestion pricing in New York City, if the State Legislature acts by March 2008 to put in effect Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal for charging traffic fees in Manhattan.

The announcement is a major step forward for Mayor Bloomberg’s plan, but it does not guarantee that the congestion fees will pass muster with Albany and the City Council…Nonetheless, the substantial federal support for the project gives enormous leverage to the mayor as he continues to press for his proposal…

To receive the $354 million, Ms. Peters said, the commission must agree to a traffic plan that meets the “same performance goals” as Mayor Bloomberg’s plan. Ms. Peters made it clear that she believed congestion pricing was an essential element of that plan, saying “it would be difficult for them to meet those performance objectives” if the commission arrives at a plan that is “substantially different” from the mayor’s.

As the news filters in, advocacy groups on both sides of the aisle are offering up their views. I’ll have more from later. For now, let’s just celebrate the good news. The city, with some common sense in Albany, could be $354 million richer and healthier.

Update: Streetsblog has a run-down of the responses from opponents and proponents of the congestion fee plan. Nothing Earth-shattering there, and Walter McCaffrey is still wrongly claiming the fee is a regressive tax that affects the poor more than the rich. Who drives more, Walter? Answer me that.