Transit Funding

Across the city, New Yorkers are still demanding their transit back. A dozen elected officials joined the Transport Workers Union on the steps of City Hall this afternoon to demand that all of 2010's MTA service cuts be restored. Around one-third of the eliminated service will be reinstated under a plan released by the MTA last week.

Andrew Cuomo's Tappan Zee Bridge does next to nothing for transit riders; the governor is unwilling to spend even $150 million on incremental transit improvements, much less put in the work to design a full transit corridor. But could it also hurt the existing transit system? If Cuomo isn't willing to make drivers pay the full cost of the bridge, it could. Every dollar for the Tappan Zee that doesn't come from tolls is a dollar that Albany won't give the MTA.

The MTA is starting to repair some of the damage done by 2010's devastating round of service cuts. The transit agency has announced a new set of transit service improvements worth $29 million a year, making up roughly a third of what was cut in 2010. Riders will also get a two-month reprieve from next year's planned fare hike, with the higher prices now set to kick in on March 1.

In H.R.7 -- the transpo bill so backwards even the House couldn’t pass it -- the roads-only crowd threw transit riders under the bus, as it were, eliminating dedicated funding for transit, which was left to fend for itself off scraps from the general fund.

A bill that would protect dedicated transit funds from being stolen by Albany failed to pass the legislature this year, leaving riders upstate and downstate at continued risk of further service cuts at the hands of the state budget process. Since 2009, Albany has taken away $260 million in funds promised to the MTA, and more to upstate transit agencies, contributing to major service cuts across the state.

When gas prices go up, it can be a big motivator for people to start taking transit more frequently. But according to a study released by the American Public Transportation Association and Building America's Future [PDF], even when gas prices start to go down, the newly converted keep riding transit.

As first reported by the Daily News this morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo has nominated former Governor David Paterson to serve as the newest member of the MTA board.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer made the state of New York City's transit system one of his top policy issues in the run-up to next year's local elections, saying in a speech this morning that finding new revenues for transit would be his top priority in Albany if elected mayor.

Elmhurst's elected officials voiced support for transit investment at a town hall hosted by Congressman Joe Crowley and Council Member Daniel Dromm last night.