Spitzer Presses Silver on Congestion Study

In a last-ditch effort to resuscitate a congestion pricing bill that Assembly Democrats said was as good as dead Tuesday, Governor Spitzer yesterday met with the Speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, to discuss creating a commission of experts to study the plan, a spokesman said. The commission would give more careful scrutiny to Mayor Bloomberg's bid to charge drivers to enter most of Manhattan.

Mr. Bloomberg has been holding state lawmakers feet to the fire on the issue, warning them that if there were no positive action by July 16, the city would risk losing up to $500 million in federal funds available this year to help pay for congestion pricing.

It was unclear yesterday if creating a commission of experts, rather than passing a bill, would give the Bush administration's Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, the confidence to fork over millions of dollars for a congestion pricing pilot program in Manhattan.

"No one would object to a study, or more information," Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat of Westchester, said. Mr. Brodsky, one of the most vocal opponents of Mr. Bloomberg 's road pricing scheme, said he only regretted that Messrs Spitzer and Silver held their negotiations in secret.