Finally, the window is open for vastly different approaches to New York regional infrastructure. Developments include new projects, new state and city leadership, and new systems to benefit the traveling public.
The most recent is the approval by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of a pilot fare-capping program for users of its tap-and-go OMNY system.
Here, affordability and new technology intersect.
“What a December to remember for transit and for transit riders,” said Lisa Daglian, executive director of the watchdog Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA.
Daglian cited the Penn Station Access project's advancement through an
Multiple infusions of federal money — including the $1 trillion-plus infrastructure law President Biden signed in November — and new leadership in New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and incoming New York City Mayor Eric Adams, open the door for creativity in the nation’s busiest transportation corridor.
Lessons from COVID-19 and the shifting dynamics of how people move as a result of it could provide some momentum on which regional decision-makers must seize and adapt.
With some headwinds removed, how about throwing caution to the wind? Toss aside the longstanding agency and state tribalism that has long hindered transit progress. And give a fresh examination to some ideas previously derided as far-out, such as the ReThink NYC proposal for through-running trains at Penn Station and an N-train link to LaGuardia Airport.
Changing ridership patterns from COVID, notably from the work-at-home trend, provide an impetus. Boosting ridership to near pre-pandemic levels will also benefit capital funding.
“The next couple of years will provide an opportunity to think more creatively. We’ll see if there’s political will,” said infrastructure expert Nicole Gelinas, a senior analyst with the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
That extends beyond congestion pricing for Manhattan, an animal unto itself that the federal government must still approve and has faced challenges from neighboring states and businesses. How well it works depends upon its implementation, which includes effectively managing exemptions.
That political will includes reimagining some of disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s trophy projects, including the $2.1 billion LaGuardia Air Train.
After Hochul paused the project, she urged the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to name a three-member panel to suggest alternatives. One of those could include the connection with the N train’s Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard terminal point in northern Queens.
The panel includes Janette Sadik-Khan, city transportation commissioner under the Bloomberg administration. She was a lightning rod at City Hall, notably for her pro-bicycle agenda, but is never short on creative ideas and is a good fit for this panel.
Serving with her are Mike Brown, former commissioner of Transport for London and former managing director for Heathrow Airport; and Philip Washington, chief executive of Denver International Airport and former CEO of Los Angeles Metro.
The state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates New York City’s mass-transit system, will be a “key participant” in the study, the Port Authority has said.
Then there’s the Penn Station transit-and-tower project, another Cuomo thrust. Hochul now estimates the overhaul will cost around $7 billion and take up to five years.
While Hochul said the rebuilding of the existing Penn Station would take priority over the towers, overall details are still murky. Watchdog groups Reinvent Albany, BetaNYC, Common Cause and the Public Interest Research Group are urging the release of all documents related to the project.
New York can’t afford to do Penn Station wrong the way it did in the 1960s, when it razed the old Pennsylvania Station to construct the latest iteration of Madison Square Garden. All options should be on the table, including through-running.
Here are some other possible areas for new thinking, though not an exhaustive list. Policymakers should embrace this transition time to consider these ideas and to come up with others as they move the region in a new direction.
Unified fare system: Drivers have E-ZPass for the tri-state region. Transit commuters deserve the equivalent, for payment across New York’s subways, NJTransit, Metro-North in Connecticut and even ferry service.
Take a cue from Philadelphia. There, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s Key Card applies to subway, commuter rail and trolley lines.
Value capture: New York City should expand the real-estate value-capture mechanism it used in the
“All the talk about value capture, I keep looking at all the cranes all over New York and the real estate prices out of control … we should be benefiting from that,” MTA board member Neal Zuckerman said.
Low-income discounts: While the OMNY pilot program could be a step in the right direction, reduced fares or even free rides for lower-income persons has become a political football. It's not just in the city, where MTA and city officials have been late in the game promoting the “Fair Fares” 50% discount for low-income riders. Debate has also surrounded the use of federal vs. New York State poverty standards.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu campaigned on free transit rides across the board. That’s not her call, as the state controls the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Greater Boston's mass-transit system.
But immediately after her mid-November swearing in, Wu effectively sidestepped the state, asking the City Council to approve the use of $8 million of federal rescue funds to backstop free rides on three bus routes covering poorer neighborhoods. She is also seeking an agreement from some neighboring communities on common bus routes.
In summary, think big, think wide and think differently.
Paul Burton is northeast regional editor of The Bond Buyer and author of “Tales from the Newsrooms.” He is working on his second book.
