New York nixes traffic congestion charge

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

NEW YORK (AFP) — Plans by New York authorities to introduce a London-style traffic congestion charge for motorists entering Manhattan ground to a shuddering halt Monday when state legislators blocked the proposed levy.

The state assembly had until midnight to ratify the measure put forward by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and approved by the city council, but ducked the proposal, deciding not even to put the issue to a vote.

The plan would have involved an eight-dollar charge for cars and 21 dollars for trucks entering the busiest parts of Manhattan on weekdays and had faced stiff opposition particularly at the state level.

The decision means the city will lose more than 350 million dollars in federal funding earmarked for mass transit and leaves the plan...