June 19 (Bloomberg) -- New York State voters would support weekday fees for motorists entering Manhattan's most congested sections if they prevented increases in mass-transit fares and bridge and tunnel tolls, a Quinnipiac University poll found.

While voters statewide opposed the fees 52 percent to 31 percent, they accepted the plan 52 percent to 36 percent if the revenue held fares and tolls steady, according to the poll.

The proposal, part of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030, is being debated among state lawmakers, who with Governor Eliot Spitzer must give approval for it to become law. Bloomberg says the plan would cut pollution, reduce street congestion, and raise transit revenue.

``This poll clearly demonstrates that New Yorkers put top priority on an affordable and reliable mass transit system.'' said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business executives group. ``When assured that they stand to benefit from the revenues generated by congestion pricing, the overwhelming number of people support a toll on people who choose to drive into Manhattan during the busiest times of day.''

Aides to the mayor, who is traveling in California, had no immediate comment on the survey. Spitzer has said that while he agrees with the concept of Bloomberg's so-called congestion pricing plan, he hasn't yet signed off on all of its details.

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has said the bill has no chance to be voted on before the Legislature adjourns on June 21. Spitzer has said he intends to call a special July session to consider the plan.

Mass Transit

Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, has questioned whether the plan would cause parking and traffic problems in areas just outside the congestion zone. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine yesterday questioned whether mass transit can serve tens of thousands of commuters who rely upon cars to get to work.

``We don't have the capacity to handle dramatic surges in additional riders with our mass transit system,'' Corzine told reporters.'' ``A lot of people find congestion pricing intriguing. I would like to know what its real impact would be on New Jersey.''

New Jersey and New York jointly control the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the George Washington, Goethals and Bayonne bridges and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.

The congestion pricing plan would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 to enter Manhattan south of 86th Street weekdays between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., and enforce the fees with a system of electronic toll collectors and cameras photographing vehicle license plates.

A similar program in London that encountered public opposition before it began in 2003 has been such a success the city doubled the size of its congestion charging zone in February, London Mayor Ken Livingstone said during an April visit to New York.

London Plan

London motorists now pay 8 pounds ($15.91) to enter a zone that includes Notting Hill, Kensington, Chelsea and Knightsbridge, along with London's West End and the city's financial center. Livingstone said retail sales have increased 6 percent inside the city's expanded congestion zone, about three times the national average.

``What New Yorkers can expect is a campaign of doom and gloom, predicting disaster,'' Livingstone said today at a news conference in London's City Hall. ``This will go on unremittingly right up until the day in which Mayor Bloomberg starts the charge, and within about 10 days his poll ratings will have gone up 15 percent and everybody will be saying, `why didn't we do it 20 years ago?'''

Mayor Bloomberg is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Quinnipiac, based in Hamden, Connecticut, surveyed 1,369 New York State voters from June 12 to June 17 for its latest poll, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 19, 2007 13:16 EDT