Motorists passing over traditionally free East River bridges may be paying a toll upon entering lower
Manhattan no later than December 2020. Photo by Mark Hallum
An agreement on something
Mayor supports governors plan to reform, fund MTA
BY MARK HALLUM
Although support for Mayor
Bill de Blasio’s millionaire’s tax
proposal failed to gain traction
with the state when the idea
was fielded as an alternative to
congestion pricing, the mayor
is now backing Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s plan to fund the MTA.
De Blasio released a
statement on Feb. 26 conceding
that time has run out for any
alternative to congestion
pricing, a toll on cars entering
Manhattan below 60th street,
and that he would work with
the state to launch the program
projected to raise up to $15
billion for transit.
Cuomo and de Blasio
announced a joint plan to
reorganize the MTA in a way
that integrates funding through
congestion pricing
“Working New Yorkers
struggle every day to get around
our city. We cannot let another
year pass without action that
makes people’s lives easier,” de
Blasio said. “This crisis runs
deeper than ever before, and
it’s now clear there is no way to
address it without congestion
pricing and other dedicated
revenue streams. The time to
act is now.”
In August 2017, after Cuomo
determined that congestion
pricing is a viable option for
creating a dedicated revenue
stream for the MTA, de
Blasio called for an income
tax rate increase from 3.876
percent to 4.41 percent on
individuals making salaries of
$500,000 and married couples
earning a combined income of
$1 million.
This would only impact
about 0.8 percent of the
population, but Cuomo and
then-MTA Chair Joe Lhota
decided that the agency did not
have time to wait for tax season
to get funding.
A year and a half later,
congestion pricing is still only a
proposal and the MTA still does
not have a dedicated funding
source. The millionaire’s tax
was projected to have raised
about $700 million by the start
of 2018.
“The proposal we’re
announcing today addresses
concerns I’ve raised related to
a lockbox for transit, fairness
to the outer boroughs and
accommodating hardships.
I still believe a Millionaires
Tax provides the best, most
sustainable revenue source for
the transit improvements our
city needs. But the time to act
is running out, and among all
alternatives, congestion pricing
has the greatest prospects for
immediate success. In light of
this reality, it is my hope that
critics of congestion pricing
will join me in acknowledging
its necessity.
The 10-point proposal
release by the governor’s office
will do away with the agency’s
“holding company” design
dreamed up in 1968 which
separates the MTA into multiple
facets and will streamline the
process of improvements by
centralizing operations.
Tolling equipment will
installed along the borders of
Manhattan’s central business
district no later that December
2020, the governor’s office said,
but no details on how much
motorists would be forced to
pay was released.
Earlier proposals from the
FixNYC panel in January 2018
called for an $11 toll on cars,
however.
“Governor Cuomo and
Mayor de Blasio are in full
agreement: eyes are now solely
on the Albany Legislature
to fix New York’s broken
transit system by passing a
comprehensive congestion
pricing plan in this year’s
budget,” Jason Kaplan, a
spokesperson for the Fix Our
Transit coalition, said.
The deadline to include
congestion pricing in the 2020
executive budget is April 1.
The MTA restructuring
would also save commuters the
pain of raised fares by limiting
the amount the agency can
raise costs by limiting it to a 2
percent inflationary increase.
MTA board members would
also end with the terms of the
elected officials who appointed
them, according to the
governor, and the capital plan
will be reviewed and approved
by a committee of experts with
no financial ties to the agency.
De Blasio also called
on elected officials such
as Councilman Barry
Grodenchik, Assemblyman
David Weprin and State Sen.
Leroy Comrie, who have been
opposed to congestion pricing
from the beginning to accept
the strategy.
Legislature approval of
congestion pricing failed to
gain consent from the state
senate at a January hearing,
however, with officials such
as newly-elected state Senator
John Liu claiming there were
not enough details to consent to
such a plan.
MTA set to increase
fares, tolls in spring
BY MARK HALLUM
The MTA board may be
keeping single ride swipes
the same rate, $2.75, for the
time being, but members
voted in favor of a hike
that will charge unlimited
weekly and monthly riders
more to raise funds for the
beleaguered agency.
Commuters will now be
up-charged from $32 to $33
for weekly passes while the
monthly payments will go
up from $121 to $127, and
the bonus given to riders for
every $5.50 they put on their
cards will also be a thing of
the past after Wednesday’s
board meeting.
“We just implemented a
fare and toll increase – it’s
painful for a lot of reasons,
for a lot of people – but we
had to do it, and it is within
inflation. So it wasn’t exactly
a mugging,” interim MTA
Chair Fernando Ferrer
said. “However, that’s in
the context of all the other
actions we are taking and
have taken with respect to
trimming down our own
bureaucracy… We have to
step up as well.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
released a plan, with the
support of Mayor Bill de
Blasio, that would enact
congestion pricing while
restructuring the MTA to
have term limited board
members who would
be appointed by local
elected officials.
But the plan also put 20
percent inflation increase
limit on fares which would
prevent MetroCard users
from bearing the brunt of any
financial troubles the agency
might be in.
“It’s unfortunate that we
couldn’t consider several
alternatives that did come
up through the process.
That said, I don’t think it’s
appropriate to continue
putting off the vote because
it’s costing us money one way
or another,” board member
Susan Metzger said.
Board member Peter Ward
said any option that raises
revenue without impacting
riders through a fare increase
would be a “grand slam,” but
acknowledged that the MTA
must act now.
“It is clear that the only
way we can make things
manage today is by either
making cuts, raising taxes
or raising fares,” Ward said.
“If those are the only three
options available to us, then
at some point we’re going to
be continually faced with the
prospect of making some type
of cuts. Whether it’s to staff,
whether it’s to infrastructure
program. At the end of the
day, we can’t cut our way
out of the problem that we
have. The only way to solve
our problems is to grow
revenue.”
The changes will take
effect on April 21, and will
also include a 3.85 percent
increase on weekly and
monthly Long Island Rail
Road tickets.
Tolls will see increase by
about four percent as well
starting March 31.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
or by phone at (718) 260–4564.
Photo via Flickr Creative Commons
30 TIMESLEDGER, MARCH 1-7, 2019 QNS.COM
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