NEW YORK (AP)  -- A commission appointed to study Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to charge motorists to drive into heavily trafficked parts of Manhattan met for the first time on Tuesday and elected a former first deputy mayor as its chairman.

The 17-member commission, created after the state Legislature failed to sign off on the congestion pricing plan, is to make a recommendation by the end of January on whether to support the plan or an alternative to ease traffic congestion. Ten of the commission's 17 members, appointed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Bloomberg and legislative leaders, already support the congestion pricing plan.

Marc Shaw, Bloomberg's former first deputy mayor, was confirmed unanimously as chairman of the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission. Shaw talked about criteria the commission would have to look at, such as the impacts on neighborhoods and parking, when evaluating the congestion pricing plan and other traffic proposals.

The mayor's plan would charge motorists $8 to drive cars into congested parts of Manhattan between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. It would need the state Legislature's approval.

The commission said it would meet monthly until shortly before its recommendation is due.

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