Election 2009

The ongoing Metropolitan Transportation Authority funding crisis means whoever is elected mayor on Nov. 3 will have to wrestle with finding ways to enhance and improve the city’s massive transit system without raising fares.

Incumbent Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and challenger William C. Thompson, the city comptroller, are not promising too much to the approximately seven million commuters that rely on New York City’s aging subways and buses daily.  Issues such as the authority’s budget – as well as green initiatives such as bicycle lanes and pedestrian walkways – are taking the back seat in the 2009 campaign.

On mass transit issues, the two candidates have a lot in common – and it often involves railing against the authority. Both Bloomberg and Thompson opposed the recent fare hikes, and each call for increased mayoral oversight and reform of the transit authority’s decision-making process. The mayor currently has limited influence on the authority with control of four seats on the 17-member executive board.

The key difference between the candidates is how they plan to raise funds to expand and improve transportation services.

While fare hikes and service reductions have slightly narrowed the authority’s budget deficit, it is still projected to exceed $1 billion for 2009, according to its Web site. The system’s revenue is largely derived from real estate taxes, ridership, and tolls—all sources that suffer in an economic recession.

Bloomberg’s solution to a bleeding transit fund was to introduce a congestion charge of $8 to vehicles driving south of 86th Street in Manhattan, which would raise funds that would be diverted to the city’s public transit system. Though the initiative was shot down last year by the state legislature, among Bloomberg’s other proposals to raise funds is the installation of gateless toll plazas on MTA bridges and tunnels to reduce traffic, travel times and pollution in select waterfront neighborhoods. He also proposes to cut $247 million from what he calls the authority’s “bloated bureaucracy.” Chief among his plans is to cut so-called red tape and merge overlapping departments.

Thompson favors the funding option of increasing weight-based automobile registration fees and introducing a commuter tax. He also plans to divert trucks to exclusive roadways to reduce congestion.

Both candidates agree that improving subway services, including more frequent and extended service, upgraded stations, and the installation of additional countdown clocks on platforms are top priorities. Some 150 countdown clocks are slated to be installed on selected lines by December of next year.

Many of the candidates’ proposals will require more funds for the authority, according to rider advocate Veronica Venterpool. This includes Bloomberg’s pitch for free bus services on some cross-town Manhattan routes and Thompson’s requirement that taxi cabs be able to accommodate wheelchairs.

“Funding from the city to the MTA has remained stagnant over the past few years,” said Venterpool, associate director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a transportation policy advocacy group. “The mayor will have to work with the MTA and state legislature on this.”
 
Apart from the authority’s funding problems, greener transportation alternatives are on the candidates’ agenda, albeit in the background.

The city has become more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians over the past few years. The bike lane network has almost doubled since 2006 and more than 3,100 bike racks have been put in place.

Bloomberg’s appointment of Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, a cycling and public space enthusiast, in April 2007 has done much to contribute to a 30 percent rise in the number of people cycling over the past two years, according to Venterpool.

Yet Bloomberg and Thompson have largely remained silent on announcing any major proposals for cycling and pedestrians in the future.

Bloomberg has said that he will to continue to explore options for a bike share program, while Thompson has said he is in favor of expanding bike lanes as long as they don’t curb street access to small businesses.

Cycling and pedestrian initiatives, however, are two areas in which the next mayor will have real power, according to Wiley Norvell of Transport Alternatives, a non-partisan advocacy group. Unlike mass transit improvements, green transportation efforts do not rely as heavily on achieving a political and financial consensus with the authority and state legislature.

“The mayor who is going to get most done will be the one who concentrates on New York City’s streets, and that means bike lanes and safer streets for pedestrians,” said Norvell. “It’s the only place they will be able to make changes without too much interference.”

Pedestrian-only areas are now in all five boroughs, with the trial ban on cars in Times Square along Broadway from 42nd to 47th Streets the standout example. Both candidates have said that they will seek to introduce more pedestrian-friendly measures, particularly in notorious accident areas.

“They city has been experimenting a lot with public safety and public space,” said Norvell. “They have been intervening and putting pedestrians first where they have been last.”

Many of these initiatives are pilot programs, and that is one aspect that the next mayor needs to change, according to Norvell.

“The pilots that have been in place over the last couple of years have to become the rule,” said Norvell.
 

 

 

Source: Bloomberg and Thompson Web sites	The Platforms
	Bloomberg	Thompson
Past Record	·   Supported 7 line subway extension ·   Created 200 miles of bike lanes in all five boroughs in three years, nearly doubling bike network ·   Installed 3,100 bike racks across the city Focused on introducing traffic calming measures including improving safety of Queens Boulevard, known for years as “The Boulevard of Death”. (In 1997, 22 fatalities; 2008 there were two.)	·   Opposed tolls on the East and Harlem River bridges ·   Proposed weight-based transit-dedicated registration fees for new vehicles which he said would raise $350 million from the city alone ·   Advocated for reinstatement of a commuter tax to raise estimated $2 billion annually for subways, buses, and commuter rails
Top Campaign Pledges	Bus/Rail: ·  Free rides on certain bus routes in Manhattan ·  Expand Bus Rapid Transit on bus routes in congested areas ·  Improve ParaTransit service to provide faster, safer and better transport for handicapped and elderly riders ·  Extend the V line into Brooklyn and provide express service on Brooklyn F line ·  Reopen Long Island Rail Road stations in the Queens neighborhoods of Glendale, Richmond Hill and Elmhurst   Road/Ferry: ·  Install gateless tolls at MTA bridges and tunnels ·  Expand ferry service along the East River ·  Construct new piers along the Brooklyn waterfront ·  Allow passengers to use MetroCards for ferries and newly connecting bus services	Bus/Rail: ·  Introduce pre-payment systems ·  Require taxi services to accommodate wheelchairs ·  Increase oversight of Port Authority and MTA decisions ·  Broaden reach of commuter transit systems in outer boroughs   Road/Ferry: ·  Reduce fares and increase weight-based automobile registration fees ·  Encourage transportation alternatives by increasing bicycle and pedestrian safety through better bike lane design, engineering measures, and the use of speed cameras ·  More speed cameras ·  Reduce congestion by utilizing tolls and diverting truck traffic to exclusive roadways