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New York: Lawmakers rejected a proposal on Monday to charge Manhattan motorists an extra fee to drive in the city, a plan advocates hoped would reduce traffic and curb pollution.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced the decision after a survey of Democratic Assembly members in a private conference. The decision comes after days of closed-door negotiations, and means the city will forfeit $354 million in federal funding for trying to kick-start the plan.
The concept aimed to cut traffic and pollution by forcing more commuters onto mass transit. It would have charged most drivers $8 to drive below 60th Street between 6am and 6pm. Monday through Friday. Truckers would have paid $21.
The Legislature faced a Monday deadline to act on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal, which was already endorsed by Democratic Governor David Paterson, the Republican-led Senate and the City Council.
"What we are witnessing today is one of the biggest cop-outs in New York's history," said Bloomberg spokesman John Gallagher. "After insisting on the formation of a commission to make recommendations for a bill, and then for the City Council to vote to endorse that bill, the Assembly needs to stand up and be counted."
Paterson said the programme is needed to reduce congestion and pollution while raising funds for mass transit.
There was no immediate comment from Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.
US Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters called the decision "deeply disappointing." She predicted that "New York's mounting traffic and environmental woes point to congestion pricing as an inevitable solution."
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