There may be hope after all!

Gov. David Paterson announced his support of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan for NYC.

“Congestion pricing addresses two urgent concerns of the residents of new York City and its suburbs: The Need to reduce congestion on our streets and roads, and thereby reduce pollution, and the need to raise significant revenue for mass transit improvement,” Paterson said.” [Daily News]

Of course, it eventually turned into a bit of a political stroke job when Bloomberg (and other pols in support of congestion pricing) started saying things like “…Paterson has shown true leadership ability…” etc.

“Congestion Pricing addresses two urgent concerns of the residents of New York City and its suburbs: the need to reduce congestion on our streets and roads, and thereby reduce pollution and global warming; and the need to raise significant revenue for mass transit improvements. We expect that revenue from the Congestion Pricing plan will support more than $4.5 billion in needed capital improvements for mass transit and meaningfully reduce traffic into the Central Business District of Manhattan. Before the constructive process of deliberation proceeds in both the City Council and the State Legislature, transparency requires that the public fully see what the system envisioned by the Commission will entail. While Commission Report highlighted other issues which need to be resolved, introducing this bill allows the City Council and Legislature to examine the details of the proposal and make an informed judgment on the Congestion Pricing program.” – David Paterson

So it seems positive thus far. As long as everyone keeps their eyes on the ball, perhaps this wild idea stands a chance. I must say, the more times they can say the words “$____ for transit improvements…” on the record, the better. Then there will be less room for them to wiggle out of it once the city gets the federal funding.