Quinn Supports Congestion Pricing Plan

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn came out in favor of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan on the same day another likely 2009 mayoral contender, Rep. Anthony Weiner, denounced it.

Ms. Quinn, a Bloomberg ally, is a friend of the taxi industry, winning the support of taxi drivers when she backed a plan earlier this year to cap the number of pedicabs allowed in the city.

While the industry has not been actively lobbying for the plan, cab drivers would be among the beneficiaries if it passes because they would not be charged to get into the congestion zone.

"It is a tough choice and it is a bold idea but if we don't move in that direction we are never going to be able to sustain nine million people," Ms. Quinn said, referring to the city's projected population in 2030. "We will become literally choked by the level of traffic in this city."