New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio have announced an agreement to fix the MTA.
The mayor’s office unveiled the 10-point plan today which includes a proposal and a joint endorsement of congestion pricing in order to raise money for the transit agency. Electronic tolling devices would be installed around Manhattan’s Central Business District. A surcharge would be applied to most drivers south of 61st Street, with some exemptions like emergency vehicles. In a Tweet De blasio says working New Yorkers are struggling to get around. And says they can’t let another year pass without taking action. Professor Mitchell Moss is with the NYU Rudin center for transportation.
“The three questions to ask is will the MTA actually improve the way it procures capital projects so that they get them done faster and cheaper, will the work rules be changed, and finally will the subway system get better? The measure is simply this, if the subways are working the entire city and region is much more economically productive. If we don’t have a subway system that works then people are not going to get to work, they’re not going to get to school, and so it is really essential that this money be well spent.”
Other points of the plan include controlling MTA fare increases, combating fare evasion, and an independent audit of the MTA, among other things. The proposal still needs to be approved by the State Legislature.
