So Bloomberg was not telling the truth (i.e. lying) last month when he pressed Sheldon Silver and the New York State Legislature to pass his version of congestion pricing. Well Senator Silver didn't believe him and it seems there was good reason not to. Officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation still have the matter on hold, and have not made a decision either way to grant p to $500 million in federal aid.
From The NYT CityRoom:
Supporters of the mayor’s congestion pricing proposal will have to wait a few more days before getting a crucial federal go-ahead on the plan. The United States Department of Transportation, which had been slated to make an announcement on Wednesday about New York’s status in a federal competition for more than $500 million in funds, now says the decision will be delayed.
“We won’t be making the announcement tomorrow,” said Brian Turmail, a spokesman for the department. “We don’t know when it’s going to happen.”Mr. Turmail would not elaborate on a cause for the delay, but at least one source with knowledge of the situation believed that the department may be redirecting its resources to the federal response to last week’s Minnesota bridge collapse.
Helping the situation in Minneapolis is far more important than any desire for a quick solution to approving funds for congestion pricing. Of course, it still has to be taken care of eventually.
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