Good morning, I’m Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, PCAC.
Tomorrow we’d be celebrating one month since the start of congestion pricing and the myriad benefits it would be bringing to our region and the critical transit network that runs through it. Instead, we’re lamenting tens of millions of dollars left on the table and a hundred thousand jobs at risk, not to mention more traffic spewing over 200,000 tons of carbon into our air and increasing costs of deferred projects. We should be looking forward to more accessible subway and LIRR stations, a more resilient Metro-North Hudson line, hundreds more electric buses, upgrades to antiquated signals, and riding the Second Avenue Subway to 125th Street. But you know all that.
What we don’t yet know is how the capital budget hole will be filled. We know what won’t work: amorphous IOU’s; “fixing” fare evasion since it isn’t bondable – although it is critical; and station naming, which wouldn’t bring in enough money to keep the lights on in this building, let alone in Grand Central.
We do know that every day that goes by means more money lost not only in tolls not collected and its effect on the capital plan, but also how it will impact the operating budget in the long-term. We have the utmost respect for the smart and hardworking finance team at the MTA – and Board members – but you’ll only be able to balance the house of cards for so long before the wolves at the door huff and puff and you won’t be able to put Humpty back together again. We thought the words “fiscal cliff” were a thing of the past, but clearly, we’re going back to the future.
It’s critical that fare evasion be brought under control and we look forward to continuing to hear about ongoing efforts to make that happen. Student OMNY cards and expanded benefits will help, as will new fare arrays and efforts on the railroads. But the only way to staunch the long-term bleeding is for the Governor to follow the law, unpause the pause, and implement congestion pricing now.