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BOROUGH PRESIDENT TESTIFIES BEFORE THE CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

I am here today because I am very concerned about Transportation Policy in the City of New York.

We should all be concerned about traffic congestion, because it affects the cost of everything we eat and use. However to control congestion, the City has proposed a regressive toll on the East River Bridges. The impact of this toll will be to punish auto users, as surely as if it were a tax.

Meanwhile, MTA New York City Transit, is reportedly operating at a huge deficit. Mayor Bloomberg and others have suggested that the transit fare be increased, perhaps to $2.00. I am aware that whenever the transit fare has been increased, ridership falls, at least initially. If the fare goes up by 33%, to $2.00, as has been suggested, we can expect that history will repeat itself. However, the effect of this fare increase will be to punish transit users, as if it were a tax.

The cumulative effect of an East River Bridge toll and a transit fare increase will be indistinguishable from an increase in taxes, and will be felt by everyone in this City, further increasing our cost of living. I am concerned, because we appear to have two transportation policies pulling in opposite directions, with the burden falling on the average New Yorker.

The majority of subway and bus users are New Yorkers who are facing higher costs, job uncertainty, if not unemployment, and higher taxes. They include the transit dependent elderly and the poor. They would bear the burden. Within this context, I would also like to point out the cost of transit travel in the New York City region is not borne equitably.

The transit user pays for 60% of subway and bus operating costs. The LIRR user pays for 44% of their costs. The Metro North Railway user pays for 54% of their cost. By comparison, therefore, New York City transit riders pay a bigger share of the cost, and are subsidized by a smaller proportional share than are suburban commuters riding the LIRR and MNR. This is unfair State policy.

It is particularly unfair when you consider that:

TBTA revenues from New York City facilities are also used to subsidize MTA commuter railroads, with a large proportion generated by City residents.

New York City must pay for the maintenance and operation of the MTA commuter railroad stations within NYC.

There is little discussion or support for a commuter tax to support the finances of the City.

The proposed reorganization of the MTA, which proposes agency consolidation along transportation modes, would further complicate the financial issues involved here.

The net result is that a thorough analysis and accounting of these disparities, and inequities, and the impacts of any fare increases are needed before any decisions on future transit fares are made