Poll: Support For Congestion Pricing Falling

Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan is facing growing opposition, with more Manhattan voters opposing than supporting it, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday.

The proportion of registered voters opposing congestion pricing rose to 47% from 36% in August, while those supporting the plan fell to 46% from 54%. Overall, only 33% of New York City voters support the plan, the poll shows.

"As more aspects of the plan come out, more people are opposed to it," an opponent of the plan, Council Member David Weprin, said yesterday. "In the case of Manhattan, a lot of people didn't realize you actually have to pay to go within the zone and to go outside the zone even if you're already living there. If the plan was to reduce congestion why should you have to pay living in Manhattan?"

If it prevented an increase in bus and subway fares, 52% of New Yorkers said they would support congestion pricing, while 41% would still be opposed. The mayor said yesterday that his first priority was improving public transportation, and that revenue from the plan would not be used "to subsidize the fare."

The Quinnipiac poll gathered responses from 1,007 New York City registered voters between November 13 and November 18.