Traffic plan sputters

ALBANY - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's last-minute lobbying for his ambitious toll plan to clear Manhattan traffic congestion ended without the necessary legislative approval Monday, but may have kept the proposal alive.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver didn't return his chamber to Albany to vote on the plan, as the proposal's supporters said was necessary. But Silver said from Manhattan that he would sign a letter with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Gov. Eliot Spitzer that says the state will create a commission to consider the Democrats' concerns over the “congestion pricing” toll plan. Silver said that should be enough to keep New York City in the running to be chosen for a federal pilot program and to receive as much as $500 million in federal funds.

The Assembly's Democratic majority “came to a conclusion that they would support legislation that would establish a commission that would examine all of these issues,” Silver said.