Governor Hochul’s State of the State Sets Path Towards a More Affordable, Equitable, and Accessible New York

January 14, 2025

The following statement can be attributed to Lisa Daglian, Executive Director, Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA (PCAC): “During her annual State of the State Address, Governor Hochul set forth a path to build on her legacy of advancing transformational projects and policies to create a more affordable state and improve New York’s critical transportation network. “The Governor’s commitment to affordability and New Yorkers’ quality of life runs deeply through her remarks, and also her policies. We are grateful for the Governor’s commitment to transit riders and ensuring they get where they are going safely, reliably, and on time. As we look towards the release of her Executive Budget next week, we hope that Governor Hochul will include PCAC’s “Rider-First Fare Agenda:” five policies with modest price tags but a big impact on the lives of New Yorkers, particularly those in subway deserts. It is critical that we create more opportunities for New Yorkers to get onboard transit, especially with an eye towards making our region more equitable and affordable. “We appreciate the Governor’s ongoing focus on fully funding the MTA Capital Plan, which is absolutely essential to ensuring that subways, buses, the Staten Island Railway, LIRR and Metro-North are brought into the 21st century for the millions of riders who depend on transit every day, as well as her ongoing commitment to ensuring that capital improvements continue to come in faster and cheaper – including a new process to coordinate transportation and utility design and construction. Funding new rolling stock, buses, station renovations, signals, elevators, fare gates, and expansion projects like Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway and Interborough Express are fundamental investments in the future of New York. “Ensuring that riders feel – and are – safe on transit is key to getting and keeping them onboard. Investments in additional cameras, platform edge barriers, updated fare gates and LED lighting, along with the Governor’s focus on mental health services, more overnight uniformed presence and Welcome Centers at the end of subway lines, will help riders be more confident in riding the MTA system than ever before. MTA workers also need to be safer underground, and we continue to support harsher penalties for people convicted of assaulting transit workers and passengers, and expanding ways repeat offenders can be penalized. “Working together, we can seize the opportunity the Governor’s vision presents to build a state where all New Yorkers are able to access the fastest and safest transit mode available to them, irrespective of cost.”