Transit Funding
Streetsblog Basics
Transit Advocates Ask Cuomo to Ride the Subway Like a Real New Yorker
Transit ridership is soaring, delays are way up, and the MTA has a $14 billion hole in its capital plan. MTA leadership is sounding the alarm, but Albany doesn't seem to notice. With the clock ticking on the year's legislative session, transit advocates are asking Governor Andrew Cuomo to hop out of his muscle car and ride the subway with them to experience the MTA's needs first-hand.
May 1, 2015
GCA Backed Congestion Pricing — Why Not Bridge Toll Reform?
The General Contractors Association of New York, which represents heavy construction contractors, says it wants a funding solution to the $14 billion gap in the MTA's capital plan -- just not the Move NY toll reform plan that's being shopped around Albany. It's a shift in tone from the group's interest when the plan was being developed a few years ago, and a stark contrast from eight years ago, when the group was one of the biggest backers of congestion pricing.
April 30, 2015
Does Cuomo Plan to Leave Straphangers Holding the Bag?
There's been a lot of noise so far this week about toll reform and the MTA funding gap, but the people who can actually do something about it remain conspicuously silent. Chief among them: Governor Andrew Cuomo.
April 29, 2015
De Blasio Deputy Anthony Shorris Ducks Questions on MTA Funding
Mayor Bill de Blasio's One New York plan, focused on the intersection of income inequality and the environment, doesn't hesitate to make big recommendations to the MTA, like a new subway line. To pay for those plans, de Blasio will need Governor Cuomo and the state legislature to take action, but the mayor isn't putting forward his own ideas about how to fund the MTA.
April 24, 2015
13 State and City Elected Officials Sign On to Move NY Toll Reform
The trickle of elected officials endorsing toll reform is starting to become more of a steady stream, and a look at who belongs to the coalition suggests that the politics of the Move NY plan are indeed different than the politics of congestion pricing.
April 22, 2015
Subway Ridership Hits 65-Year High. Does Cuomo Care?
Subway ridership hit a 65-year high in 2014, serving 1.75 billion trips last year, the most since the New York City Transit Authority was formed in 1953. That's an increase of 2.6 percent over 2013 and 12 percent since 2007, according to the MTA. The subway now serves 5.6 million passenger trips on an average weekday, and 6 million on an average two-day weekend.
April 20, 2015
Jim Brennan’s Transpo $ Plan: Gas Tax, Income Tax, and Forced City Funding
A bill from Assembly Member Jim Brennan, who chairs the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, would create a transportation finance authority to collect new taxes and help fund the MTA as well as roads, bridges, and transit statewide. It's the first major transportation funding proposal to come out of Albany this year.
April 10, 2015
$100 Million in BRT Funding at Stake in Albany Budget Negotiations
There's $100 million for Bus Rapid Transit in the Assembly's budget proposal, and advocates are working to ensure the funds emerge intact from closed-door negotiations with Governor Cuomo and the State Senate.
March 25, 2015
Fed Up With the Latest Fare Hike? Be Sure to Say #ThanksCuomo
It's easy to get annoyed with the MTA: Your train is slow and crowded, the station is dirty, the bus is late -- and to top it off, you just got hit with another fare hike. You're paying more for deteriorating service, and the only place to direct your anger is a faceless bureaucracy known as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Is there anyone responsible for this mess?
March 23, 2015
Albany Has Already Saddled the MTA With More Debt Than 30 Nations
As Albany contemplates paying for the MTA capital program by borrowing as much as $15 billion, it's worth pausing to examine the debt load straphangers are already shouldering. To put it in perspective, the MTA carries more debt than Bolivia, Tanzania, and Luxembourg combined, according to numbers compiled by the Straphangers Campaign. The MTA owes more than at least 30 nations, including several with populations much larger than New York City.
February 12, 2015