A high-tech team is already scouting congestion on Manhattan’s streets.

It includes dozens of E-ZPass readers that check constantly for gridlock from atop traffic-signal poles at intersections. They measure vehicle volumes and speeds in real time and alert New York City engineers when to adjust and sync green lights to keep traffic moving as part of a city program, Midtown in Motion.

Now a congestion-pricing plan recommended by a state task force could significantly expand this E-ZPass infrastructure, which has also been used for cashless tolling at bridges and tunnels. But it would be harnessed for a new purpose: charging a daily fee to drive into a congestion zone from 60th Street south to the Battery during busy times.

While congestion pricing faces daunting political obstacles, there are a host of complex technical issues that pose just as much of a challenge. Technology has advanced in the decade since the last major congestion-pricing push in New York, and a growing number of cities and municipalities have harnessed it to unclog roads, shorten commutes and raise millions of dollars for transportation needs.

But even advocates of congestion pricing are divided over how to transplant it to New York, which would be the first American city to have a pay-to-drive fee in its central business district. Many say that building on existing E-ZPass technology could get a congestion zone up and running in two years, but others caution that newer, fast-developing technologies could be cheaper and more efficient.