Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Transit Funding

DiNapoli: If Cuomo Borrows More for the MTA, Get Ready for Fat Fare Hikes

By Stephen Miller | Oct 21, 2014 | 13 Comments

Without a commitment from the state to close the $15.2 billion gap in the MTA’s capital program, the cost of a MetroCard is likely to spike as the MTA adds to its cumbersome debt load, according to a new report from Comptroller Tom DiNapoli [PDF]. The warning comes as Governor Andrew Cuomo and the legislature […]

Trottenberg: Federal Cuts Could Make MTA Funding Gap Even Bigger

By Stephen Miller | Oct 17, 2014 | 1 Comment

Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said today that the MTA is making “optimistic assumptions” about federal funding as it plans its next five-year capital program. The agency has identified only half the funds to cover the projected costs of the plan, which maintains, upgrades, and expands the transit system. At a panel with top-level city agency […]

It’s Cuomo vs. Transit Experts on MTA Funding

By Stephen Miller | Oct 8, 2014 | 54 Comments

Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo called the region’s transit investment plan “bloated” and rejected calls for new revenue. Today, MTA Chairman and CEO Tom Prendergast, speaking at a forum on best practices in regional transit governance, hammered home the need for elected officials to find new money to fill the half-funded capital plan’s $15 billion gap. “This is […]

Fair Tolls: Fixing NYC’s Gridlock and Transit Shortfall in One Fell Swoop

By Charles Komanoff | Oct 7, 2014 | 61 Comments

When Governor Nelson Rockefeller merged New York’s commuter rail lines, the NYC Transit Authority, and Robert Moses’s Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to form the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968, he had several motives. The new agency consolidated political power, made more efficient use of regional infrastructure, and devoted surplus bridge and tunnel toll revenues […]

Reinvent This: Cuomo Cuts Future Investment to Pay for MTA Labor Deals

By Stephen Miller | Jul 29, 2014 | 9 Comments

When Governor Cuomo smiled for the cameras to announce labor deals with the Transport Workers Union and Long Island Rail Road unions, he promised they wouldn’t push already-planned fare hikes any higher. The unanswered question was: How much will this cost, and how is he going to pay for it? Now we know: The governor’s MTA is […]

Unlike Toll Reform, a Sales Tax Really Is a Regressive Way to Fund Transit

By Stephen Miller | Jul 29, 2014 | 6 Comments

The MTA capital program is facing a $12 billion shortfall, according to Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, and unless that gap is closed, transit riders will end up paying even more to cover the agency’s ballooning debt load. There’s one clear way to address that problem while cleaning up the traffic mess that ensnares motorists, bus riders, […]

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