Congestion Pricing Plan Receives Preliminary Approval in New York

"A plan to thin Manhattan's perpetual throngs of traffic by charging fees to drivers and increasing prices for on-street parking was approved by a 13-2 vote on Thursday afternoon by a state commission appointed to review different proposals. The plan to decrease traffic in much of Manhattan...would charge drivers $8 to go below 60th Street from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m."

"The plan also calls for the money raised through fees - estimated at $491 million annually - to be dedicated to improvements in mass transit."

"Under the law that created the commission, the plan recommended on Thursday will be reviewed by the City Council. If it wins approval from the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg, it will go before the Legislature."