Mobilizing the Region

New York’s gubernatorial campaign has been full of sound and fury, with GOP candidate Carl Paladino facing off against Democrat Andrew Cuomo in a clash of personalities that sometimes leaves little room for the issues. When it comes to transportation, both candidates offer broad plans with few specifics.

Target: MTA

Republican candidate Carl Paladino rode the NYC subway during a recent visit.

Both Cuomo and Paladino have said the MTA should be more directly controlled by the governor, and both have raised varying levels of concern about the payroll tax which funds transit in the region.

At this month’s gubernatorial debate at Hofstra University, Paladino said “the MTA is a poster child for waste, fraud, incompetence, patronage, no-show contracts, absolute mismanagement.” He said, “I will get rid of that payroll tax immediately.  I will then completely audit that division and take it under the governor’s office for a five-year period, and force it to be restructured so that it is responsive to the people.” He also describes his plan for gubernatorial control on his website.

At the debate, Cuomo said, “In some ways the MTA is just a gross symbol of the problem that a lot of these state agencies and authorities have. Number one, it wastes a tremendous amount of money.  And number two, nobody’s in charge.” He continued, “Put the governor in charge. If it doesn’t work, it should be up to the governor and everybody should know about it.”

On the payroll tax, Cuomo told the NY Observer this month that “you have to revisit the payroll tax,” a sentiment he’s expressed before.

(For his part, MTA Chairman Jay Walder has defended his record, saying his cost-cutting steps have resulted in $500 million in recurring annual savings. “I hope to stay and I expect to stay,” he recently told the NY Times.)

Tolls and Transportation Funding

Democratic candidate Andrew Cuomo has been speaking about the state's infrastructure needs.

NYC congestion pricing came up during a conversation on transportation funding last week, with Cuomo telling reporters that “Congestion pricing was proposed. It was discussed.  It was basically rejected by the legislature. I don’t know that there’s been any change in opinion. I think it’s moot. I understand the concept. I understand that it was rejected. I don’t think it would pass if it came up again, unless something changed.”

Cuomo’s “New York Works” economic development plan includes  one chapter focusing on “restoring New York to infrastructure leadership.” The plan diagnoses the need to rebuild the state’s infrastructure and its financial challenges — including the state’s overreliance on debt, the need to finance the unfunded Tappan Zee Bridge replacement and other projects, and deteriorating bridges across the state.

The plan suggests that a Cuomo administration would make greater use of public-private partnerships, explaining that a proposed infrastructure bank would  ”attract private capital by allowing certain contracting structures (such as Design-Build-Finance-Maintain) that would not otherwise be allowed under current State law.”

Paladino has called for the elimination of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll, saying in a press conference that he would “correct this unfair tolling system that penalizes people who have no opportunity to use the mass transit alternatives provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.” A NY Times profile of the candidate reveals he has challenged tolls before. In 2005, he successfully sued the State Thruway Authority to remove a 75-cent toll on motorists entering Buffalo via the Thruway.

Bike and Pedestrian Policies

The candidates disagree when it comes to a statewide complete streets policy, according to AARP’s 2010 Voters Guide. The Guide asked whether candidates would support complete streets legislation “which takes into consideration all users including motorists, bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities, when designing and operating roadways.” Cuomo supports such legislation; Paladino opposes it.

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