New York State felt the brunt of the national recession in 2009, and its transportation agencies contended with lower revenue from fares, tolls, and taxes. Compounding these problems was political turmoil and a lack of leadership at the MTA and NYSDOT for significant parts of the year. In this climate, advocates tried to hold the line on both funding and policy, and succeeded in reducing fare hikes and service cuts at the MTA (though this story is not over, see below) and halting NYSDOT attempts to expand roads and close a pedestrian safety program. New York City was a happy exception, continuing to gain international acclaim for bold policies like closing parts of Broadway to cars and the “bikes in buildings” law.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
MTA riders began the year faced with major fare hikes and devastating service cuts. They ended the year facing very similar cuts. But despite this disheartening deja vu, the agency is in a better position now than it was 12 months ago, when a $1.2 billion budget gap led to the “doomsday” proposal of 25% fare hikes and service cuts across the system.
Last December, a commission convened by Gov. Paterson to address the MTA’s funding gap released the Ravitch Plan, a package of funding sources and governance reforms that included tolls on the East and Harlem River crossings, a payroll tax in the downstate region, and a 8% fare increase.
Tri-State and the many other organizations in the Empire State Transportation Alliance and Keep New York Moving coalitions conducted an unprecedented advocacy effort in support of long-term transit funding that included multiple trips to Albany, an advertising campaign, public events throughout the region, and online work.
In February, the State Assembly appeared ready to back bridge tolls set at the price of a subway fare, but the Senate balked. Finally, in May both houses of the Legislature passed a plan including the payroll tax, a package of vehicle fees, and a 10% fare hike which appeared to close the budget gap and partially fund the MTA capital program. As part of the funding and reform legislation, MTA executive director Elliot Sander resigned and his position was combined with the board chair’s. Gov. Paterson nominated London transit executive Jay Walder to run the system in July, and Walder began work in October.
In August, the MTA submitted a $28 billion capital program for 2010-14 that will bring the system closer to a state of good repair, complete existing megaprojects (such as East Side Access and the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway) and increase funds for bus rapid transit. It was adopted by the MTA Board in September but has not been approved by either the Capital Program Review Board or State Legislature — and even with approval, the program faces a $10 billion funding gap.
December opened with a string of bad developments for the MTA’s budget: the state cut aid, the payroll tax garnered less revenue than predicted, and an arbitrator upheld raises to unionized MTA workers. In order to balance its budget, the agency resurrected many of the previously proposed “doomsday” service cuts, which will take effect in summer 2010 absent a solution from the state. Various options to close the gap have been recommended by elected officials and advocates.
New York State Department of Transportation
The federal stimulus dominated NYSDOT’s agenda in the winter and spring. The agency wisely concentrated its funds on road and bridge repair, but struggled to get money out the door in a timely fashion. Commissioner Astrid Glynn stepped down in April, leaving deputy Stan Gee to run the agency in an acting capacity. Since then, a few of the smart growth programs instituted by Glynn have limped along, but the agency has not shown a consistent smart growth philosophy. On Long Island, the NYSDOT regional office worked with advocates and community members to produce a plan for Route 347 that accommodates all road users. Plans to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge and add transit between Suffern and Port Jervis moved forward, and transit-oriented land use training for towns in the corridor began in November. But the department also canceled a Long Island traffic calming program (TSTC won back funding), illegally allowed cars onto the Staten Island Expressway’s bus lanes, and was poised to waste hundreds of millions of dollars on an expansion of the Major Deegan Expressway until community and advocate opposition turned back the project.
A $25 billion capital program for 2010-15 has not been approved by the state due to lack of funds. Highlighting the state’s needs was the October closure of the Lake Champlain Bridge due to safety concerns, which sent the 3,500 who used it daily on an 80-mile detour. The bridge, which connects New York and Vermont, proved beyond repair and was demolished in December.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority offered few new initiatives this year, as its finances took a battering due to declining toll revenue. The agency broke ground on the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel and continued overhauling the PATH system, improving cross-harbor rail freight operations, and studying cashless tolling on its crossings. All of these were funded in its 2010 budget. But PANYNJ deferred until at least 2016 a bus garage on Manhattan’s West Side that would provide parking for hundreds of public and private buses that currently take up space on city streets. The agency was pressured by city and state politicians to increase its subsidy to World Trade Center office construction, but the dispute has not been resolved. An update to the PANYNJ website included improved customer information for bus terminal users, prompted by a TSTC report.
New York City
New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan continued to champion progressive transportation policy. In February the department announced an audacious plan to close parts of Broadway to car traffic. The new Broadway, which opened to the public in May, has been popular locally and well-known internationally. The city held the second annual Summer Streets, opening Park Avenue to pedestrians and cyclists for three weekends in August. NYCDOT and the MTA began work on a second phase of bus rapid transit projects, and the City Council passed a law requiring office buildings to allow cyclists to bring their bikes inside. Mayor Bloomberg’s election to a third term gives Commissioner Sadik-Khan time to continue transforming city streets.
Land use and parking continued to be a missing link in the city’s sustainability efforts, best characterized by auto-oriented big-box developments like the Gateway Center Mall in the South Bronx and East River Plaza in Manhattan. The state-run Atlantic Yards project also survived several legal challenges this year, and developer Bruce Ratner officially closed on the project. Brooklyn Speaks, a coalition of city and borough organizations calling for a better Atlantic Yards plan, filed its first lawsuit over the project in November (the coalition has previously recommended a stronger transportation plan for the site).
Long Island/Lower Hudson Valley
Under the Ravitch Plan, the MTA promised to assume control — and full responsibility for funding — of suburban bus systems like Long Island Bus and Westchester’s Bee-Line Bus in a regional bus agency. The proposal proved popular in Nassau and controversial in Westchester, but ended up moot. Funding for regional bus was dependent on passage of East and Harlem River bridge tolls, which didn’t make it through the State Legislature.
Passage of the MTA funding legislation meant suburban transit riders were spared large fare hikes and service cuts, but some business groups and politicians reacted angrily to the payroll tax enacted as part of the package. The intensity of the anger, which continued throughout the year, led new MTA chairman Jay Walder to repeatedly meet with stakeholders in the lower Hudson Valley.
During the summer, Westchester continued to progress its study of bus rapid transit, while Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi slashed county aid to Long Island Bus. The Town of Hempstead began to review the Lighthouse mega-development in what has become a slow and contentious process, and Nassau County resumed a transit study for the Nassau Hub.
In the November elections, Westchester County Executive Andy Spano fell to challenger Rob Astorino, and Nassau County Executive Suozzi narrowly lost to Ed Mangano. The surprising results led advocates to call on Mangano to reverse the Suozzi cuts to LI Bus.
In Need of Leadership
2010 will be a year of continued challenges, and strong leadership will be required to meet them.
At the MTA, new chairman Jay Walder has displayed a deft hand with the media, a willingness to reach out to critics, and a populist touch (pledging, for example, to “take the place apart” in search of cost savings). He’ll need all of these and more if he is to successfully deal with operating budget shortfalls, advocate for a fully funded capital program, make the MTA more efficient and transparent, and push his key initiatives of better bus service and customer amenities.
NYSDOT is operating with no discernable vision, but it won’t get any without the hiring of a full-time commissioner or more direction from Gov. Paterson. Whether either will happen before the 2010 election is an open question.
New York City was responsible for much of the policy innovation in the region this year, thanks to the leadership of NYCDOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan and a mandate for her bold work from Mayor Bloomberg. Here’s hoping that partnership continues in the mayor’s third term. A commitment to less auto-dependent development and increased support for the MTA would show an even stronger commitment to sustainable policy.
For suburban elected officials, leadership means moving past grandstanding on the MTA payroll tax. The state will at some point need to fully fund the MTA capital program, and by working together suburban leaders could help find solutions that benefit them, such as tolling the East River bridges.
Finally, state leaders will have to meet the state’s infrastructure needs in an extreme budget environment. Gov. Paterson has called the MTA and NYSDOT five-year capital programs “unaffordable.” This is an acceptable state of affairs. Bridges will continue to close and job numbers will suffer without adequate investment from the city and state.
