Friday’s Headlines: MTA Tin Cup Edition
Leaders at the MTA saw the same election results we did on Tuesday, and with Democrats riding the National Scolding to a huge House majority and comfortable Senate majority, transit officials have their own small wishlist for Congress.
In their latest Policy Brief, occasional missives the MTA puts out to explain its thinking on hot-button transit issues, agency officials asked the incoming Congress for more reliable funding, tariff relief and more rational federal rule-making.
First, the MTA wants Congress to ensure that the next reauthorization of the federal surface transportation bill doesn’t kill a Biden-era funding stream that would cost the agency $265 million in funding next year.
Second, the agency asked Congress to explicitly exempt rolling stock purchases from tariffs if they comply with the federal “Buy America” requirement that at least 70 percent of parts in a new train or bus be manufactured in U.S. in order to qualify for federal funding. Tariffs on specialized components not made in America are driving up MTA costs, the memo said.
Third, the MTA wants more funding for the Transit Security Grant Program, which shrunk from $350 million in 2009 to $88 million this year. The MTA’s cut of the grant money, which it had to sue the Trump administration to get last year, fell to $33 million in the last round of appropriations.
And finally, transit leaders would like Congress to ensure the White House can’t just cancel federal grants by fiat, and ensure that grants are given out for rational, fact-based reasons. In particular, the MTA asked Congress to prevent the federal government from solidifying a proposed rule that directs transit infrastructure funding to areas with high marriage and birth rates, regardless of whether those areas also have high transit ridership.
“[V]oters have made themselves clear: they’re fed up with the federal government’s assault on cities,” the memo said. “They’re tired of tariffs that put a tax on everything. And they are ready for the next Congress to make real progress for mass transit.”
NY1 also covered the federal transportation funding fight.
— Dave Colon
In other news:
- An ex-FBI agent was arrested for severely injuring a pedestrian with his government car on Ocean Parkway back in February. Andrew Reyes allegedly stopped and dragged his victim’s body out of the roadway before driving away. (NY Times, Gothamist)
- Cops are giving way more tickets to street vendors this year despite the mayor’s big talk about supporting them. (Gothamist)
- The city is breaking ground on its DeKalb/Lafayatte avenue bus lanes in Brooklyn. (Patch)
- Traffic tickets have doubled in Jersey City under Mayor James Solomon. (NJ.com)
- CBS naturally hopped on “residents divided” over the MTA’s plans to relocate a segment of the B65 bus.
- NY Mag‘s Justin Davidson doesn’t want to talk about the data around car and e-bike collisions, but his ideas to reining in Manhattan street chaos aren’t that bad on balance.
- Here’s how to ride the subway and bus with a baby on board. (NY Groove)
- Mayor Mamdani’s scribbled notes indicate he’s thinking about NYPD in Central Park. (NY Post)
- Assembly Member Alicia Hyndman things it’s OK to keep bus riders stuck in traffic some of the time. (City & State)
- And finally, a municipal Darwin Award for this guy:
