Looks like NYC has wimped out on plans to bring congestion pricing to Midtown Manhattan.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said yesterday that it was unlikely that the State Legislature would allow the city to charge drivers to enter the busiest parts of Manhattan as part of a congestion pricing plan similar to one used in London.

The plan was devised as a way to deal with an almost 24-hour traffic jam. Estimates are that up to 60% of traffic into Midtown (below 60th Street) are visitors or business people from outside the city.

[E]xtremely heavy traffic in New York reduces the productivity of workers and delays deliveries of goods and services throughout the metropolitan region. That drives up costs to businesses, cuts into their profits and keeps them from hiring more workers.

One study estimated that excess traffic across the region resulted in at least 37,000 fewer jobs a year.

That's a shame. I would have loved to see NYC try to pull it off.

Because, whatever NYC does, Boston does next, right?

Complete story: Mayor Says Fee on Peak Traffic Is Not Likely - By William Neuman and Diane Cardwell, The New York Times