Transit Funding

With each passing month, the MTA comes closer to the day of reckoning on its unfunded capital plan -- the maintenance work that keeps trains and buses running and the expansion projects that provide more access to the system. While the first two years of the 2010-2014 capital budget were funded, there is a $10 billion deficit in the remaining three. So far, there doesn't seem to be any plan from the city, state, or federal government to find this funding. In fact, between the State Senate's goal of repealing the MTA payroll tax and the House GOP's budget-slashing, there may be more obvious paths to the MTA losing revenue than gaining it.

Since 2009, Albany has stolen roughly $260 million dollars from dedicated transit funds in an attempt to plug the state government's enormous deficits. Those cuts have wreaked havoc upon the MTA's budget, precipitating major service cuts and fare hikes.

The MTA will not lose another $170 million in budget negotiations, according to the office of Jim Brennan, who chairs the Assembly's authorities committee.

Nassau County's unwillingness to pay for its own buses is ending in disaster for Long Island Bus riders. The MTA has announced that it plans to cut 25 of the 48 LI Bus lines and axe weekend service on two more.

Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his budget plan yesterday, including hundreds of measures to close a deficit of billions of dollars [PDF]. While the most controversial element may be Bloomberg's plan to lay off thousands of teachers, included among the smaller-scale deficit-closing measures is one that is sure to set up a fight over transportation policy. The budget again includes a 25 cent increase in the hourly rate for on-street parking in most of the city, a proposal which the City Council negotiated out of this year's budget in January.

An erstwhile ally is getting back into the ring to fight for transit riders.

Environmental advocates' agenda for the Cuomo Administration continues to take shape, with the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund yesterday releasing its Albany agenda for 2011 [PDF].

The assault on the MTA's already battered finances could now come from yet another front: the federal government. The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives passed a rule Wednesday that would allow reductions in federal transportation spending, including investment in transit. That puts previously secure federal funds on the negotiating table, making it that much harder for the MTA to balance its books.

Last week Streetsblog sat down with David Bragdon, the new head of the city's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability, to talk about next year's update of PlaNYC. A new version of the city's sustainability plan is set to be released on Earth Day, 2011 (that's April 22), revising the 2007 roadmap for a city that prioritizes transit, biking, and walking.