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Split City Council questions congestion pricing

BY KARLA SCHUSTER | karla.schuster@newsday.com

March 25, 2008

As the deadline to approve the mayor's controversial congestion pricing proposal looms, a sharply divided City Council Monday grilled transportation officials about the plan to charge motorists to drive into parts of Manhattan.

"People understand the need for this, but the big problem here is that they don't trust the MTA or even city government to use the revenues in the way that's been promised," said City Councilman John Liu of Queens, who backs congestion pricing and is chairman of the transportation committee.

The hearing, which began at 10 a.m., stretched well into the afternoon as city, state and federal officials squared off on the issue. The session was scheduled to reconvene at 6 p.m. to allow the public to testify.

The plan to charge motorists $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. needs City Council and state legislative approval. City officials estimate the fee will generate $491 million annually for transit projects.

Also, a one-time federal grant of $354 million that city officials say would be used to improve bus and subway service hangs in the balance. The deadline for approval is April 7. Legislation submitted by Gov. David A. Paterson last week was introduced in the state Senate yesterday by Majority Leader Joseph Bruno.

But no companion bill has been introduced in the state Assembly, where Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has expressed reservations about the proposal. A council vote has not yet been scheduled.

Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democrat from Manhattan who supports congestion pricing, has said she is confident that the plan will win the 26 votes needed for approval.

"I don't want to pretend that this plan won't be an inconvenience and a cost to some people," Quinn said, "but the benefits so outweigh any of the negatives that the concept of inaction is ... simply not an option. We need to seize the moment."

Council members spent more than three hours questioning city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn and Director of Long-term Planning and Sustainability Rohit Aggarwala about the proposal. Several opponents were skeptical about the guarantee that revenue from congestion pricing would be protected by law in a so-called "lockbox" for public transit projects.

"I'm going to believe that the 'lockbox' can be broken, just like the education 'lockbox' was broken," said Councilman Lewis Fidler, a Democrat from Brooklyn, referring to the promise that lottery revenue would be used for schools.

Aggarwala argued that given the yawning deficit in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan, congestion pricing is the only way to generate a steady stream of money to expand subway and bus service. He also argued that improving service in one area will have a ripple effect throughout the city. "If we don't do this, we will never be able to think about those things," he said. "This unlocks access for everybody."