Assaults against Asian Americans are neither random nor right
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | APRIL 9-APRIL 15, 2021 13
BY PATRICK FOYE
What a difference just a few months can make.
Two months ago, the MTA’s finances were facing
a calamity of unprecedented proportions and our
plan to establish the nation’s first Central Business
District Tolling Program (CBDTP) was in limbo.
But thanks to President Biden, the nation’s biggest
supporter and most famous user of mass transit,
and our tireless hometown champion, Senate
Majority Leader Schumer, the federal government
came through with a new COVID-19 relief package
that has helped the MTA avoid widespread cuts in
service and layoffs that would have decimated the
system and devastated New York’s economy.
And then last week — just two months into the
new administration — the president unveiled a
massive $2 trillion infrastructure plan that outlines
a bold vision for historic investment in public
transportation.
We also received long-awaited federal guidance
on how to proceed with CBDTP, also known as congestion
pricing. This critical program will help
ease gridlock, promote mass transit usage, and
raise $15 billion for our historic 2020-2024 Capital
Program to reinvest in our transit system while
improving health by reducing air pollution.
While implementation of congestion pricing
won’t happen right away, this direction allows us to
hit the ground running to conduct the review and
broad public outreach necessary to move forward.
It’s been a long two years of waiting to get to
this point. During that time, our team, led by Allison
L.C. de Cerreno, has been working hard to
lay the groundwork for congestion pricing, hiring
TransCore to begin the preliminary design process
and later build and operate the program.
Thankfully President Biden and Transportation
Secretary Buttigieg saw the need for urgency
and acted quickly to advance our application. They
rightly recognized the wide-ranging benefits of
congestion pricing.
We’ve seen in other cities how tolling programs
can help to significantly reduce carbon dioxide
emissions and fossil fuel consumption. According
to the Federal Highway Administration, those metrics
fell by 20 percent in London after the city enacted
a congestion surcharge. Singapore’s tolling
system prevents the release of an estimated 175,000
pounds of carbon dioxide into the air every day, and
Stockholm’s policy has led to a 10-14 percent drop in
emissions in its city center. We now have a historic
opportunity to follow their lead here in New York
and advance our climate goals.
The Central Business District Tolling Program
will also ensure that we have a critical element
of funding for our $51.5 billion 2020-2024 Capital
Program. Congestion pricing will raise $1 billion
a year that we can leverage by issuing bonds to
provide $15 billion toward critical infrastructure
projects that will fortify our system for decades to
come. We need a strong and robust MTA more than
ever as the region looks to recover from the pandemic.
Mass transit is also the great equalizer, and
by investing in and improving our network we can
improve equity for New Yorkers across our service
area.
As we work to aggressively implement this vital
program, we know it will serve as a model for other
cities across the country. We’re committed to doing
it right so that the MTA can again lead the nation
and spur a new golden age for mass transit.
Patrick Foye is the CEO of the New York Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
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