Photo Courtesy of the Office of the Governor
“Congestion pricing is the only logical and realistic option to fund the MTA’s capital needs,” the governor said on Thursday.
By Michael V. Cusenza
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday called on the State Legislature to enact a congestion pricing plan to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s capital program in order to prevent a nearly 30-percent MTA fare hike or further deterioration of the transit system.
In a speech delivered at the Association for a Better New York in Manhattan, Cuomo said the “only logical and realistic option” to provide an ongoing and dedicated revenue stream to the MTA is through congestion pricing, which he included in his 2020 Executive Budget proposal.
“The MTA has been plagued by organizational dysfunction and disinvestment for decades, and we need better management and more money to turn it around,” Cuomo said. “Congestion pricing is the only logical and realistic option to fund the MTA’s capital needs and one person must have the authority to make decisions, hire and fire, and reorganize. Let the Legislature cast their vote on the real choice—congestion pricing or 30 percent fare and toll increases. It’s A or B because there is no C. If the public understands the critical choice their elected officials are making, congestion pricing will prevail.”
In October 2017, Cuomo convened the Fix NYC Advisory Panel – a mix of community representatives, government officials, and business leaders from across the region tasked with developing recommendations to address the severe traffic congestion problems in Manhattan’s Central Business District and identify sources of revenue to fix the ailing subway system. According to the group’s proposal, released in January 2018, all drivers would be charged to enter the CBD – an area of Manhattan bounded by 60th Street on the north and Battery Park on the south, the Hudson River on the west and the East River on the east – during weekday business hours. As Cuomo noted on Thursday, Fix NYC has a number of variable rates that would incentivize drivers towards non-congestion hours by reducing tolls at certain times and it would be implemented with electronic tolling. Funds would be put in a lockbox for MTA capital projects, Cuomo pledged.
The governor isn’t the only one urging lawmakers to adopt a congestion pricing plan. On Monday, a coalition of advocacy organizations and straphangers from Queens rallied will pols in Albany, calling on Cuomo and the Legislature to include congestion pricing in the final State budget.
“I implore my colleagues in the Senate and Assembly to support congestion pricing and other effective and sustainable transit funding in order to fix the city’s subway system,” said Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz (D-Jackson Heights). “The people of New York deserve a more reliable and affordable public transit system, and need a commitment from elected officials that funding will be secured for long-term and systematic improvements to mass transit in our city.”
In addition to congestion pricing, the governor also outlined on Thursday a set of proposed actions for the Legislature to establish accountability and fix the MTA system. The proposals include improving processes for the design and completion of major projects, addressing the mounting budget and operational deficiencies, determining the cost of a real capital plan, and overhauling the MTA’s archaic structure.
