Companies: Deadline for NY Plan Too Soon

The city received 30 responses to its request for expressions of interest from companies that might be able to design and operate the congestion pricing system, which Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff has said the city would like to have going by early 2009.

Bloomberg proposed the system last April, and it must get legislative approval, a process still months away. The plan Bloomberg suggested envisions charging cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan's most trafficked areas on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Companies were asked to submit ideas for the design, operation and maintenance of a traffic fee system, addressing a number of points, including pricing, technology options, enforcement, privacy and compatibility with EZ-Pass, an existing system used by commuters to pay tolls.

A majority of proposals said the Bloomberg administration's time frame would be difficult to meet, and some suggested a phased-in approach would be more tenable.

Bloomberg's plan proposed monitoring motorists as they enter and exit the zone through a system of license plate cameras. Many of the proposals said that would be the best form of technology to use.

Others proposed options such as global positioning systems.

The city's economic development corporation is reviewing the responses.