The Legislature must approve the plan by April 7 or the city stands to lose $354 million in funding promised by the federal government to help kick-start the initiative.
Congestion pricing is intended to cut traffic and pollution by forcing more commuters onto mass transit; the money collected through the tolls would go toward mass-transit improvements. The Bloomberg administration has said it would like to have it up and running in a year.
Opponents, including many lawmakers from outside Manhattan, say commuters who drive in from the outer boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island often have no mass-transit options and have no choice but to use their cars.
The Bloomberg administration has promised that before it implements congestion pricing, it will complete several new mass-transit projects, including more bus lines in some of those underserved areas.
Critics also argue that middle-class New Yorkers can't afford to pay to drive to work each day and that the $8 daily fee per car amounts to charging people for access to the city.
"What's next, we're going to charge a user fee to come into Central Park because it's crowded?" said Councilman Lewis Fidler, who voted against the plan.
The plan squeaked by in the council: A resolution supporting it passed 30-20.
