Transit Funding
Streetsblog Basics
Livable Streets Progress in Albany Will Have to Go Through a GOP Senate
Andrew Cuomo may have won re-election, but New York was no exception to the national Republican wave in yesterday's elections. The GOP regained control of the State Senate, weakening its bond with the Independent Democratic Conference and keeping mainline Democrats in the minority. With last night's results, the landscape for transit and livable streets legislation in Albany has shifted.
November 5, 2014
Highlights From Today’s City Council Transportation Infrastructure Hearing
Today, the City Council transportation and economic development committees held a marathon joint hearing on New York's transportation investment needs. Top staff from the MTA and NYC DOT, including Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, fielded questions from council members for the better part of the day.
November 3, 2014
Citizens Budget Commission: MTA Capital Program Must Change Course
The fight over how to fund the MTA's next capital plan is just starting to heat up, with worries over disappearing federal dollars, ever-expanding debt, and proposals for new revenue sources. Before the funding discussion gets going in earnest, a new report from the Citizens Budget Commission [PDF] begs the region's transportation policymakers to take a step back and consider a more fundamental question: Does this plan prioritize the right things?
October 24, 2014
DiNapoli: If Cuomo Borrows More for the MTA, Get Ready for Fat Fare Hikes
Without a commitment from the state to close the $15.2 billion gap in the MTA's capital program, the cost of a MetroCard is likely to spike as the MTA adds to its cumbersome debt load, according to a new report from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli [PDF]. The warning comes as Governor Andrew Cuomo and the legislature begin the very early stages of negotiations over funding the capital plan, which maintains, upgrades, and expands the transit system.
October 21, 2014
Trottenberg: Federal Cuts Could Make MTA Funding Gap Even Bigger
Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said today that the MTA is making "optimistic assumptions" about federal funding as it plans its next five-year capital program. The agency has identified only half the funds to cover the projected costs of the plan, which maintains, upgrades, and expands the transit system. At a panel with top-level city agency heads this morning, Trottenberg, who sits on the MTA board, warned about a possible cut in federal support, which would further widen the funding gap.
October 17, 2014
It’s Cuomo vs. Transit Experts on MTA Funding
Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo called the region's transit investment plan "bloated" and rejected calls for new revenue. Today, MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast, speaking at a forum on best practices in regional transit governance, hammered home the need for elected officials to find new money to fill the half-funded capital plan's $15 billion gap.
October 8, 2014
Fair Tolls: Fixing NYC’s Gridlock and Transit Shortfall in One Fell Swoop
When Governor Nelson Rockefeller merged New York's commuter rail lines, the NYC Transit Authority, and Robert Moses’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to form the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968, he had several motives. The new agency consolidated political power, made more efficient use of regional infrastructure, and devoted surplus bridge and tunnel toll revenues to rescue a faltering transit system.
October 7, 2014
Reinvent This: Cuomo Cuts Future Investment to Pay for MTA Labor Deals
When Governor Cuomo smiled for the cameras to announce labor deals with the Transport Workers Union and Long Island Rail Road unions, he promised they wouldn't push already-planned fare hikes any higher. The unanswered question was: How much will this cost, and how is he going to pay for it? Now we know: The governor's MTA is moving money away from investments in the system's long-term upkeep, widening a $12 billion hole even as a panel of experts studies ways to pay for needed improvements.
July 29, 2014
Unlike Toll Reform, a Sales Tax Really Is a Regressive Way to Fund Transit
The MTA capital program is facing a $12 billion shortfall, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and unless that gap is closed, transit riders will end up paying even more to cover the agency's ballooning debt load. There's one clear way to address that problem while cleaning up the traffic mess that ensnares motorists, bus riders, pedestrians, and cyclists alike -- raising revenue by reforming NYC's broken toll system. But a leader of Governor Cuomo's MTA Reinvention Commission appears to favor a regressive option that won't fix the dysfunction on city streets.
July 29, 2014
Affordable Bus and Subway Fares Are Still Worth Fighting For
When the MTA introduced the 30-day unlimited-ride MetroCard in 1998, it cost $63. Today the cost of the 30-day pass is up to $112, a 77 percent increase. Over that time the base subway and bus fare doubled, from $1.25 to $2.50.
July 24, 2014