Transit Funding
Streetsblog Basics
Hints About Woodhaven BRT at MTA Reinvention Commission Panel
The "transportation reinvention commission" convened at the request of Governor Andrew Cuomo kicked off its public hearings yesterday with a panel of experts at MTA headquarters. Appointees, still trying to figure out the commission's exact role, chewed over some of the region's big transportation issues in a discussion that mostly lacked specifics. Still, there were a few notable comments, including new information about Bus Rapid Transit on Woodhaven Boulevard from NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
July 16, 2014
Four Tough Problems the MTA Reinvention Commission Needs to Tackle
Governor Cuomo’s MTA Reinvention Commission met for the first time last week at the agency's midtown headquarters. Cuomo has charged the 22-member commission with developing a plan “to make our subways and our entire transit system ready for the challenges of the next century.” The commission’s recommendations are expected to shape the MTA’s next capital program -- its five-year plan for maintenance and expansion -- as well as the authority’s long-term planning and vision.
July 1, 2014
City Council: Drivers With Free On-Street Parking Have Suffered Enough
It may be the Vision Zero era, but some thingsneverchange. If you're looking for cost-free, consequence-free storage of your private automobile in public space, the City Council still has your back.
June 30, 2014
Why the Senate Transportation Bill Will Devastate Transit
Transit officials lined up today to make clear that holding transit spending at current levels -- as the Senate’s transportation authorization bill does -- will put transit systems at risk of falling further into dangerous disrepair.
May 22, 2014
Questions Linger Over Cuomo’s Tappan Zee Transit Plans
On Monday, Governor Cuomo announced that the state would provide $20 million for transit service across the new Tappan Zee Bridge, and is applying for a federal grant as well. While this first step is welcome news, there are still more questions than answers about what this money will pay for and how the rest of the project's bus system will be funded and operated.
April 30, 2014
Panel: NYC Electeds Need to Get Serious About Funding Infrastructure
This morning, the Association for a Better New York, a business group, hosted a discussion on the city's infrastructure. The focus was squarely on transportation, and the message wasn't pretty. Panelists warned of dire consequences if elected officials don't act on the precarious state of transportation funding.
April 23, 2014
No, the MTA Can’t Afford Cuomo’s Transit Raids
I think most transit riders would laugh -- cynically -- at the idea that the MTA has more than enough funds to meet its needs. But this is exactly what the MTA’s chairman Tom Prendergast said when he learned that the state would be diverting $30 million from the MTA’s funding stream to balance the state budget.
April 14, 2014
Instead of Reforming NYC Tolls, Ruben Diaz, Jr. Proposes Soaking the Bronx
Like the Tea Party adherents who are always going to equate walkability and sustainable transportation with a global UN conspiracy, some New York City electeds are always going to call road pricing "regressive" no matter how much the evidence suggests otherwise.
April 8, 2014
Cuomo Gets His Way, and Transit Riders Get the Shaft
Governor Andrew Cuomo won't be denied. Overriding proposals from the Assembly and State Senate, the governor continues to pick the pocket of New York City's transit system, diverting $30 million from the MTA in the state budget.
March 31, 2014
Fitch Ratings: Failure to Invest in Transit Could Hurt the Whole Economy
One of the country's leading financial ratings agencies is warning that if America doesn't change how it invests in transit, the whole economy could suffer.
March 27, 2014