LOCAL NEWS OP-ED
Promoting ‘transit
equity’ for all
New Yorkers
BY JANNO LIEBER
Transit Equity Day falls
in February and its values
are prioritized every
day at the MTA.
Our system is a gateway to
jobs, education, and opportunity
for millions of families
from the Rockaways to
Wakefi eld, providing service
24 hours a day, seven days
a week for $2.75 a ride as
far as they need to go. And
we look forward to making
improvements that will
help us more effectively advance
equity throughout the
Five Boroughs.
First, on fares. I am working
with the new team in City
Hall to double enrollment in
the city’s Fair Fares program,
which provides discounted
MetroCards to low-income
New Yorkers. At the same
time, the MTA is preparing to
introduce a package of exciting
fare promotions in the weeks
ahead, including, the fi rst-ever
fare-capping pilot for subway
and bus customers paying with
OMNY, and the expansion of
the commuter railroads’ special
fl at fare for travel wholly
within NYC on off-peak trains
throughout the week.
Making transit affordable is
a key part of improving overall
accessibility and so are
the ADA upgrades that are
underway throughout the system.
Under the agency’s latest
procurement, approved last
month, 26 subway stations will
get new elevators and other infrastructure
to help seniors,
people with disabilities, parents
with strollers and more
get around more easily. The
work is part of an unprecedented
$5 billion investment in
accessibility under the historic
Mayor Eric Adams in City Hall.
Joe to the rescue
Adams talks President Biden’s visit, and
promise to help NYC fi ght gun violence
in their neighborhood
of Queensbridge Houses.
“I’m sure he was truly impressed
by what he saw out in
Queensbridge. The number of
shootings that have dropped
substantially, based on the work
K. Bain is doing. I wish I had
him for the whole day, because
I would have taken him out to
East New York,” Adams said.
Adams explained that he is
looking to build a partnership
between crisis management
teams to work in conjunction
with the NYPD so that heavy
law enforcement presence will
no longer be needed in hard hit
communities.
The mayor has work to do
to bridge a historical divide
between city agencies and the
police department; however,
he says going forward he will
be looking to pool all resources
to ensure change is made. The
mayor also stressed that offi cers
will not be pulled from dangerous
FILE PHOTO
areas overnight, but instead
will make a gradual progression
as they become safer.
Adams also said that the
president pledged to offer
more federal funding in order
to help battle the rising crime,
and the mayor said he was
particularly grateful.
“He was dealing, earlier this
morning, with terrorism overseas.
But he came to New York
to deal with the terror that many
people are experiencing right
here in the city and come up
with real ways and solutions,”
Adams said.
Comparing a new antiguncrime
strategy to a level of cooperation
not seen since the 9-11
terror attacks, he also admonished
those for making assumptions
about his gun blueprint.
Adams ALSO declared that the
anti-gun task force will not be
wearing plain clothes but modifi
ed police uniforms and will be
highly vetted.
The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now, Downtown Express and Manhattan Express
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2020-24 Capital Program.
We’re also focusing on the
bus system, which–though
sometimes viewed as less
glamorous–may present the
most important opportunity to
increase equity. The network’s
reach is wider than the subway’s,
and it serves a greater
share of residents from low-income
neighborhoods and communities
of color. They deserve
faster trips and more reliable
service, which is why we’re
redrawing the map boroughby
borough with our Bus Network
Redesigns. We’ve had
great success already on Staten
Island; next up is the Bronx.
The MTA is also working
closely with the City to add
new bus lanes and busways
and to expand the use of automated
cameras to increase
speeds by keeping these corridors
clear of private cars and
delivery trucks. And by implementing
transit signal priority,
we can reduce the time buses
spend sitting at red lights.
This is an exciting moment
for mass transit in NYC. The
MTA’s working relationship
with the City has never been
better, congestion pricing
(a/k/a “Central Business District
Tolling”) is set to come
online in the coming years,
and there are an unprecedented
number of transformative
capital projects in the pipeline,
including Metro-North Penn
Station Access, Second Avenue
Subway Phase 2, and the
Interborough Express.
As we roll into 2022, equity,
safety and reliability are guiding
principles in the mission to
bring riders back to transit and
move New Yorkers wherever
you need to go.
Janno Lieber is MTA chair
and CEO.
Member of the National
Newspaper Association
Member of the
New York Press Association
Member of the Minority
Women Business Enterprise
BY DEAN MOSES
Mayor Eric Adams refl ected
Feb. 3 on a day spent
alongside the President
of the United States, and the
plan to tackle gun violence.
Around the same time President
Joe Biden was being driven
to JFK Airport after a late afternoon
visit to P.S. 111 in Queens,
Mayor Adams returned to City
Hall in order to discuss the historic
visitand the way in which
the president outlined efforts to
help stop rampant gun violence
in the Five Boroughs.
According to Adams, he
urged the president to meet
with local community groups
who use proactive methods in
order to prevent youth from
ever picking up a fi rearm to
begin with. The mayor ushered
Biden to Long Island City
where he spent time alongside
advocates who have dedicated
their lives to ending bloodshed
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4 February 10, 2022 Schneps Media
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