Thursday the Regional Transportation Authority released its Moving Beyond Congestion plan, which goes a long way towards meeting our region's unfunded operating and capital needs. More details are
here. The plan establishes an important framework for investing in transit -- maintain, enhance, and expand -- and the broad-based regional support for those priorities is a helpful step towards achieving increased investment in transit.
One of my fellow CTA board members sent me the New York Times
editorial below. I thought it was useful to point out that CTA is not alone in wrestling with the challenges of underfunding.
The M.T.A.’s Capital Dilemma
Published: February 4, 2007
The $21 billion program to expand and upgrade New York State’s public transit system is over budget, perhaps by some $1.4 billion. News of that kind feels like one shoe dropping, in this case leaving open the possibility of a fare hike, service cuts, or both. Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s newly appointed chair for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Elliot Sander, hasn’t ruled out an increase, which would be the first since 2005; indeed, one seems inevitable down the line. But his first priority is to make sure that basic needs like maintenance are taken care of. A host of projects are competing for sparse capital funds. The largest and most expensive, including the Second Avenue subway, have been long awaited. But if money cannot be found through savings or additional state aid, they must take a back seat to basic maintenance and life support for an aging system.
An audit report issued last week by the City Comptroller, Bill Thompson, echoed and quantified concerns of rider advocates, led by the nonpartisan Straphangers Campaign. The underlying problem, as always, is that state lawmakers send disproportionate amounts of M.T.A. money to upstate and suburban systems. For instance, the city receives only 75 percent of maintenance money even though it accounts for 84 percent of the statewide ridership.
This, in turn, means maintenance deferred. Dirtier stations and cars are the least of the problem; the safety and security of the subway passengers are also at risk. Mr. Thompson found that more than one-third of 201 smoke-clearing fan plants for subway tunnels — needed in case of fire or other emergencies — are overdue for upgrades.
Transit officials express hope they can narrow or even close the gap in the current capital plan, which runs through 2009. But even if they could, the authority’s fiscal pickle is bigger than just the capital program.
Underfunded for years by the administration of Gov. George Pataki, the M.T.A. became dependent on borrowing to make up the difference, and it has had to divert hundreds of millions of dollars annually just to service the debt interest. Ever-increasing operating budget shortfalls are projected, approaching $2 billion in 2010. Mr. Spitzer’s first budget seems to do little to change the trend.
All this occurs as the city relies more and more on public transit. Some 7.5 million people ride daily, more than ever before. And as the population continues to grow — to a projected 9 million in the next 20 years — the battle against wear and tear can be expected to further overwhelm resources. The city’s subways are in much better shape than they were in the 1980s, when filth, delays and crime were commuters’ constant companions. To remain that way, and to meet future needs, the system needs intensive care, and a realistic contribution from Albany.
