Good morning. I’m Jack Connors, Research and Communications Associate at PCAC, the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
The new capital plan brings with it the promise of 60 new subway elevators, but only if Albany and the Legislature identify $34 billion in new funding – a figure that climbs to almost $50 billion without congestion pricing.
That’s more than most states’ entire budget and larger than several states’ GDP.
Making the accessibility picture even more challenging, Governor Hochul’s congestion pricing pause has pumped the breaks on ready-to-go ADA upgrades at 23 subway and Staten Island Rail stations in all five boroughs, plus two LIRR stations.
That’s hurting riders in the here and now, like my 89-year-old grandmother who had to volley with several flights of stairs just to score her Honey Deuce at the U.S. Open earlier this month at Mets-Willets Point.
We were proud to join a coalition of groups to canvass all 23 of these stations two weeks ago. What did we hear? Riders are tired of waiting.
The greatest city in the world deserves a world-class transit system.
The MTA is charting a course towards more accessible stations, new rolling stock, new fare gates, and faster, more reliable service thanks to State of Good Repair work, but that can’t happen if Governor Hochul is intent on relitigating the past instead of looking towards the future.
Governor Hochul, haven’t riders waited long enough? It’s time to follow the law, unpause the pause, and set a start date for congestion pricing.
On another note, it’s great that automated camera enforcement, ACE, is coming to 1,000 more buses on 20 routes in all five boroughs by the end of the month.
To anyone afraid of receiving a ticket, I offer this sage advice: if you’re not a bus, stay out of the damn bus lane!
Thank you.