OP-ED
Time to give NYC Transit back to the City
BY COREY JOHNSON
We’ve all been there:
Stuck in a crowded subway
car due to “signal problems,”
or sitting on a bus moving so
slowly that you might as well
have walked.
Frustration with our
mass transit system is a New
York state of mind we’re all
unfortunately accustomed to,
but I truly believe it doesn’t
have to be this way.
The vast majority of the
problems with our system
can be summed up in one
word: accountability.
There isn’t any.
The MTA is a state
authority controlled by the
governor with its own budget
that’s approved by a bunch
of board members most New
Yorkers have never even
heard of.
It’s confusing, which is
the point.
How else could the people
in charge avoid blame and
responsibility when things
go wrong?
The buck has to stop with
someone, and it has to be
someone who knows if they
don’t get it right
their job is on the
line.
This is why I
support municipal
control of the
subways, which
would mean
a c c ou nt abi l i t y
will fall squarely
on one person: the
mayor of New York
City.
It means we run
our subways, we
run Staten Island
rail, we plan our
bus routes – right
now the city doesn’t
even do that – and
we control the toll
money from the
seven bridges and
tunnels currently run by the
MTA.
I know what you’re
thinking. That’s all well and
good, but how does that help
my commute?
Those signal problems
making you late for work all
the time?
That is what happens
when no one is responsible.
It’s the result of decades of
misplaced priorities.
Our subways’ signals date
back to the 1930s.
They’ve never been
upgraded because the
MTA’s governance structure
i n c e n t i v i z e d
s h o r t - t e r m
glamour projects
over the longterm
investments
we really need.
It’s painting the
outside of a house
that’s falling apart
inside.
And the result?
We allow a 21stcentury
system
to operate with
i n f ras t r uc t u r e
that was built in
the 1930s like it
is now.
What about our
slow buses?
M u n i c i p a l
control would
help get our buses
moving again because for
the first time ever, the city
– and not the state – would
be able to quickly fix routes
that aren’t working and
work in close coordination
with the Department of
Transportation, which
is currently under
our control.
That means better, more
cohesive bus service that
gets New Yorkers where they
need to be faster.
It makes no sense that
different entities are covering
both now. Municipal control
isn’t just more accountable.
It’s more efficient too.
Making municipal control
a reality won’t be easy, and
it won’t happen overnight.
But this is worth fighting
for. We have to think big to
solve the problem of how we
move around our city. We
can’t let fear of the politically
difficult stop us from taking
on this challenge.
We have to get New York
City moving again.
I’m ready to fight for this
for as long as it takes to make
it happen. I hope you’ll fight
alongside me.
Corey Johnson is the New
York City Council Speaker.
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