Good morning!
I’m Kara Gurl, Planning and Advocacy Manager at PCAC—the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
The next capital plan is here, and with it, $12 billion in projects for the railroads.
There are some really vital projects in the works for LIRR and Metro-North riders, and we’re glad to see some of our major concerns addressed in this plan.
We’ll see resiliency upgrades like drainage improvements and flood prevention on the Hudson Line to protect riders from extreme weather.
We’ll see more accessible stations, and more riders who can benefit from rail service around the region.
We’ll see interlocking upgrades, capacity improvements, and signal renewals to keep riders moving more reliably.
And we’ll finally see new railcars to replace the M3s and new locomotives for West-of-Hudson, which will both improve the rider experience while also improving service.
Overall, hundreds of thousands of current and future railroad riders stand to benefit from this capital plan.
There’s just one $16.5 billion dollar elephant in the room: Governor Hochul and her pause on congestion pricing— ten percent of which was slated for each railroad.
Railroad riders will suffer because of her reckless, illegal decision to dig a $16.5 billion dollar hole in the last capital plan… just as we figure out how to fund tens of billions of dollars for the next plan.
We’re ready to work with the Legislature to find creative ways to do that, but it’s too late to go back to the drawing board on congestion pricing.
Pencils down!
Instead, let’s draw up some ways to make transit work for all railroad riders.
We propose expanding fare incentives like City Ticket with transfers…
closing the gap in the senior and disability half-fare to include the morning peak…
and finally bringing Fair Fares to the commuter rails in New York City.
We think these programs would work great to get riders onboard…together, with congestion pricing.
Governor Hochul: unpause the pause and get riders moving.
Thank you.