Feds Backing Bloomberg's Traffic Fee Plan

Mayor Bloomberg's plan to charge drivers $8 to drive below 86th Street in Manhattan has taken a big step forward. Washington has agreed to give New York City hundreds of millions of dollars for the congestion pricing plan.

If implemented, the congestion pricing scheme proposed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg would be the first of its kind in the nation. London and Singapore have similar toll programs.

For weeks, New York officials haggled over whether to approve the mayor's idea in time to qualify for a share of $1.2 billion in federal aid. State leaders eventually struck a compromise keeping the plan alive, but it was unclear if the squabbles and delays soured federal transportation authorities on New York's novel attempt to reduce gridlock.

Bloomberg's plan would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan south of 86th Street on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has been considering which five out of nine cities will receive a major infusion of cash for local traffic reduction plans, and Secretary Mary Peters was scheduled to make an announcement Tuesday morning.