Good morning, I’m Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, PCAC.
What a difference five months makes! From lamenting and decrying to lauding and congratulating; we’ve run the gamut. Once again, you have the opportunity to make history and chart the path to cleaner air, safer and less congested streets, and billions of dollars in critical funding for essential transit infrastructure projects. On behalf of more than four million daily riders on subways, buses, Staten Island Rail, LIRR and Metro-North, we urge you to vote yes to the new tolling structure.
Say yes to filling the hole in the current capital plan and to $68 billion over the next five years for accessibility improvements, signal, track and station upgrades, power and resiliency work, new rolling stock, and expansion projects like the Second Avenue Subway and IBX. Yes to over a hundred thousand well-paying jobs. Yes to reducing the $20 billion congestion costs our region every year. Yes to faster response times for emergency vehicles and bus speeds and to cleaner air and starting up the mitigation projects that shouldn’t have even needed this program. Even drivers will benefit.
We look forward to seeing the contracts for the critical work the “unpause” unlocked in coming months, along with an update on what this will mean for the 2025 operating budget.
Drivers got good discount news, now we think it’s time riders get some too. How about discounts on the railroads? We suggest: Fair Fares on the railroads within the city; using the OBTA to support transfers to transit from weekly then monthly CityTickets; an intra-city combo ticket at one low price; and allowing seniors and disabled riders to use their discounts during the morning peak across the railroads. These are great ways to reach New Yorkers whose fastest trip may run through their backyard, but is too expensive. They also complement the planned bus improvements the Governor announced.
On January 5th, the chicken littles will find out the sky isn’t falling. We’re looking forward to that day but will keep the cork in the champagne until the first car gets charged. My husband volunteered!
Thank you!