Senate Proposes Another Dud
Time is running out for the State Senate to come up with a MTA financial package that would starve off the MTA’s “doomsday scenario“. Both sides of the aisle have spent the majority of the time playing the blame game or coming up with inadequate solutions. Once again, the latter seems to be playing itself out with the latest “proposal” from Democratic Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith. Jimmy Vielkind of Politicker NY has more in this report:
It’s the State Senate’s plan to fix the M.T.A.’s finances, take two.
Here’s what it includes: a $1 surcharge on taxi rides in the 12 counties served by the M.T.A., raising $190 million; a sliding payroll tax on all businesses within that region, raising $1.49 billion; a $25 fee on motor vehicle registration, raising $130 million; a 25 percent increase on the fee to obtain a drivers license, raising $10.5 million; an eight percent increase on fares; and an increase in tax on rental cars, raising $35 million.
No legislators attended the announcement.
A total of $1.76 billion will flow to the M.T.A.; an additional $95 million will be used as the basis for issuing bonds toward $1.2 billion of road and bridge projects on Long Island and upstate.
Click here for the complete report.
Shortly thereafter, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wondered if the proposal had enough votes to pass. Jimmy Vielkind of Politicker NY once again was on top of it with this report:
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said he will examine the latest proposal to provide funding for the M.T.A. from Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.
“We’re looking at it,” Silver said to reporters outside of his office. “Most important, do they have the votes? And exactly what the plan is–you can go on forever about different details of it.”
By codifying a plan and advancing it, Smith may deflect further criticism of his conference’s seeming inability to agree on a workable alternative to plans from David Paterson and Silver. If the bill does pass, it becomes the Senate’s stated negotiating position while a final plan is worked out with the Assembly and governor.
Click here for the complete report.
I would like to take this moment to commend Ben Fried of Streetsblog who had a very strong piece on why this plan fails to address the actual concerns of the current crisis:
So, just in time for Earth Day, the State Senate has proposed an MTA rescue plan that’s bad for both business and the environment.
Not only will the piecemeal funding approach likely have the MTA begging again within months, but these particular funding streams will make the city’s traffic woes even worse, all while forcing New York City businesses and the city’s car-free majority to shoulder much of the burden. It’s a poor substitute for the Ravitch plan or congestion pricing. Here’s why:
1. Raising tolls on MTA crossings while keeping East and Harlem River bridges free gives car commuters and truckers even more incentive to detour across city streets to the free crossings. Neighborhoods like Downtown Brooklyn, Long Island City, Williamsburg and the Lower East Side that are already pulverized by traffic will see things get worse.
2. Raising fees on car ownership through higher registration and licensing fees does nothing to discourage car use, and may actually encourage people to drive more in order to get more bang for their buck. Using tolls or congestion fees to price driving would have the opposite effect.
3. Raising the cost of car sharing, rentals and taxis makes it tougher to live without a car. And, like higher ownership fees, increasing these one-time charges encourages renters to maximize their driving. Congestion pricing or tolls are far superior.
4. Unlike private motorists taxi drivers faced with higher fees will increase their driving. Why? Since passengers will choose to ride less, given the higher fare, cabbies will have to drive more to recoup the flat fee they pay to operate a taxi.
5. Using cab fees to pay for highway and bridge projects outside of the city transfers wealth from the dense, environmentally sustainable city to the car-dependent suburbs. If anything, taxes on cabs should fund the city bridges and streets used by those cabs.
Over the last few months, I have echoed my firm belief that if Albany is going to come up with half-baked solutions, it would be better to not have one at all. The idea of temporary fixes starving off the MTA’s “doomsday scenario” is quite concerning. We as a region can’t afford to come back to deal with the same issues every few months. The time has clearly come for long term solutions to funding the MTA as anything less will not get the job done.
Band-aid solutions might get praise from constituents, it will only be short term as the mathematical facts of the situation will rear its ugly head & win out in the end. No amount of good press will cover up the potential collapse of our transit infrastructure & possible bankruptcy of the MTA itself. While some out there long for the MTA to not run things, the fact is they are all we have right now & we as a region can’t afford to have them go under.
The battle between the New York City region & Upstate New York has reached a breaking point. In the end, every transit advocate knows this is a battle that our region can’t afford to lose as the repercussions from doing so would be the true doomsday.
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:- Malcolm Says The Proposal Will Pass
- Albany Ready To Screw Up Again
- Malcolm & The Senate Are Destroying Mass Transit
- Gov. Paterson Wants Action By Tuesday
- Gov. Paterson’s “New Idea”
Gov. Patterson Urges Republicans To Vote For MTA Bailout
The “doomsday scenario” being officially put into action is rapidly approaching & leaders in Albany are still unable to agree on a MTA funding package. State Democrats can’t come to an agreement due to such individuals like Sen. Carl Kruger, Sen. Pedro Espada, & Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. who rather cater to drivers than the majority of their constituents who depend on mass transit. So the prospects of a funding package being reached could end up needing Republican support. Gov. Patterson realizes this as he urged Senate Republicans to vote for a MTA bailout package. Glenn Blain & Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more in this report from Saturday:
Struggling to get an MTA bailout, Gov. Paterson has begun phoning Republican senators trying to wrest pivotal votes.
The Democratic governor Friday called Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens) and recently phoned Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Long Island) about the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fiscal crisis.
The outreach comes after the failure of the Senate’s Democratic leadership to unify its own members behind a rescue to avert sky-high fare hikes and massive service cuts.
Without a Senate deal, more than 8 million subway, bus and commuter train riders will get fare hikes as high as 30% in late April and early May.
Padavan also got a call from former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch, architect of a bailout plan featuring East and Harlem River bridge tolls and an employer-paid payroll tax.
Click here for the complete report.
I am not holding out hope of Gov. Patterson being able to convince enough Republicans to vote for a MTA financial package. He clearly has been unable to get this done within his own party so why would be for the opposition? It is quite obvious that both sides rather play the political blame game versus getting the job done for millions of riders. I happen to agree 100% with Working Families Party Executive Dan Cantor when he said:
No plan is perfect, but doing nothing is just unacceptable. We’re calling on these senators to get back to the table and lead the way to a final, sensible agreement to save the MTA.
This is not the time to wait for the perfect plan as the needs of our system & the millions who depend on it should be the state’s #1 priority. If they are willing to let the system collapse with ramifications for the entire state, we the voting public will show them the error of their ways come election time. For the millions of riders who depend on mass transit, they can only hope Albany does the right thing. I am not holding out much hope….
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:- Mayor Bloomber Promises To Help GOP
- Gov. Patterson Calls Out State Senate
- Senate’s Latest MTA Proposal Is Floundering
- State Legislature Passes MTA Rescue Bill
- MTA Statement Regarding Negotiations In Albany
Queens Local Bus Routes To Be Graded
Just a short time ago, MTA New York City Transit announced that riders will have the chance to grade local Queens bus routes as part of the 2008 Rider Report Card series. Here are the complete details courtesy of the just sent out press release:
MTA New York City Transit today announced that Queens local bus customers will be given a second chance to rate their rides for the next three weeks when Rider Report Cards are once again distributed within many neighborhoods throughout the borough.
Queens comes on the heels of Brooklyn, where approximately 53,000 cards were distributed through this morning. Queens bus customers will be able to rate various aspects of service such as “Reasonable wait times between buses,” “Seat availability,” “Smooth handling of bus,” “Courtesy of bus operators and dispatchers,” and “Reliability of wheelchair lifts.”
Report Cards will be distributed at key locations in Queens during the morning rush periods: on Monday, April 20, cards will be handed out in the vicinity of Queensboro Plaza and Queensbridge; on Tuesday, April 21, cards will be handed out along Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst; on Wednesday, April 22, the distributions will continue along Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills and Kew Gardens; on Thursday, April 23, Main Street, Flushing will be surveyed; and, on Friday, April 17, surveyors will hand out cards in Jackson Heights, specifically on 74th Street, Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue.
As before, riders are being asked to mark the route they ride, and then provide a letter grade – A through F or G for “not observed” – for each of the 20 different service attributes listed, as well as a grade for the overall performance of the route. Rider Report Cards will be issued in a self-mailer format. Last year, more than 75,000 report cards were handed out in Queens, of which 6,640 were returned and 523 responses were received on-line.
Riders can also go on line, www.mta.info, to fill out report cards in English, Chinese and Spanish. Distribution of cards in Queens concludes on May 11, and the last day on-line and mail responses will be accepted is June 5.
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:- Brooklyn Local Bus Rider Report Cards Concludes
- The E Is The Next Line To Be Graded
- The R Is The Next Line To Be Graded
- The F Is The Next Line To Be Graded
- Riders Asked To Grade Local Manhattan Bus Service
Service Diversions 04-17
I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest scheduled diversions for the weekend & upcoming week (and beyond in some cases). Don’t forget to check in for any changes to the page. I also suggest printing out a copy of the page to use while riding the system. Also to my readers who might be using the Long Island Rail Road this weekend, do not forget about the weekend service changes on the Port Washington & West Hempstead lines. Have a safe & wonderful weekend!
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:- Service Diversions 04-15-10
- Service Diversions 04-09-10
- Service Diversions 06-05
- Service Diversions 06-26
- Service Diversions 06-19
Buses & Vans Replace Early AM Port Washington Trains
The theme of Long Island Rail Road related press release entries continues. This time, the press release is to talk about how buses & vans will replace early morning trains on the Port Washington line. Here are the complete details that were sent out earlier today:
The MTA Long Island Rail Road will provide bus and van service in place of early-morning trains between Great Neck and Port Washington before the morning rush on Friday, April 24th in order to use the Sperry Rail Car to conduct special rail inspections. Two eastbound and two westbound trains will be affected.
The Sperry Rail Car, a bright yellow vehicle fitted with ultrasonic and induction test equipment, is designed to detect internal rail defects not readily visible to the eye. Defects that are found will be corrected immediately by a crew of LIRR track maintenance workers. The Sperry Rail Car is used twice a year to inspect approximately 500 miles of LIRR track.
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009
Eastbound:
The 12:55AM and 1:53 AM trains from Great Neck will be replaced with bus and van service. Customers will board a bus or a van in Great Neck at 1:05 AM and 2:03 AM for stations Manhasset through Port Washington.
Westbound:
The 1:39 AM and the 3:23 AM trains from Port Washington will originate instead at Great Neck. Customers at stations Port Washington, Plandome and Manhasset will board a bus or van bound for Great Neck. At Great Neck, customers can connect to train service for other points west.
Customers should expect between 15 to 30 minutes of additional travel time in both directions.
Customers should pick up a copy of the special track work timetable at Port Washington Branch stations or at western LIRR terminals. For additional information, customers can contact the LIRR’s Travel Information Center, 24-hours a day, in Nassau County at 516-822-LIRR, in Suffolk County at 631-231-LIRR or in New York City at 718-217-LIRR. The Travel Information Center’s TDD telephone number for the hearing impaired is 718-558-3022. Customers can also consult the LIRR’s website at www.mta.info.
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:
