1 / 21

Financing New York’s Regional Transportation System

Financing New York’s Regional Transportation System. Robert D. Yaro President Regional Plan Association Greater Vancouver Livability Forum June 1, 2009 Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded 1929 Covers 31-county region Private, independent not-for-profit

iona-herrera
Download Presentation

Financing New York’s Regional Transportation System

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Financing New York’s Regional Transportation System Robert D. Yaro President Regional Plan Association Greater Vancouver Livability Forum June 1, 2009 Vancouver, British Columbia

  2. Founded 1929 • Covers 31-county region • Private, independent not-for-profit • Professional staff of urban planners, economists, architects, transportation planners • Distinguished board of directors

  3. Connecticut New York New Jersey

  4. The Region’s Transportation System • Over 100 years old. • 2,250 kilometers of rail

  5. RPA’s Three Regional Plans

  6. Building A Polycentric Region

  7. New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Almost $70 billion spent to restore the system since the 1980s Over 9 million rides a day RPA’s 3rd Plan proposed major system expansion now underway, including 4 “megaprojects,” to meet the region’s mobility needs through 2040.

  8. MTA Revenues -- System Wide NYC Transit farebox operating ratio: 54% -- highest in North America Several dedicated taxes are highly cyclical. Decisions to fund capital plans from farebox in 90s dramatically increased debt service

  9. Empire State Transportation Alliance Transportation advocates in front of New York City Hall

  10. PlaNYC – New York’s Sustainability Plan launched Earth Day 2007 PlaNYC 2030: New York City’s Plan forA Greener, Greater New York, containing 127 separate initiatives, including Congestion Pricing, to promote the city’s long term sustainability. 

  11. Campaign to Advocate for Plan’s Recommendations • Campaign for NY’s Future – a coalition of 150 business, civic and community groups to support adoption of PlaNYC Recommendations • Rallies and Events • Environmental Justice Town Hall Meetings • Community Engagement and organizing • Advocacy

  12. Congestion Pricing Meets Albany

  13. Lessons Learned: Congestion Pricing • Didn’t do the preparation needed • Rushed campaign from April launch to June end of legislative session. • Personal politics and Albany. • “Where’s the crisis?”

  14. MTA Sustainability Plan Greening Mass Transit & Metro Regions: A Synopsis of the Final Report of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability and the MTA January 2009

  15. Transit’s Role in Carbon Avoidance Total Regional GHG Emissions Mass Transit Mass Transit OtherTransportation OtherTransportation Less Transit More Transit Source: T. Papandreou, LA Metro

  16. Smart Growth & Transit Oriented Development Smart Growth/TOD • Capture significant share of new regional VMT by 2030 • Promote 2/3 of new development near transit stations • Solve the “Last Mile” problem

  17. GHGs per person GHG per Person 8,637 Transportation Kg CO2equivalents/year 3,341 Building Operations Materials Low Density Auto-Oriented High Density Transit-Oriented Source: Journal of Urban Planning & Development, March 2006

  18. 2008: Ravitch Commission Plan Fares – Increase fares by Regional Consumer Price Index bi-annually. Regional Mobility Tax -- Excise tax of .33 cents for every $100 dollars … imposed on employers Bridge Tolls – forthe free East River and Harlem River Bridges to match existing tolled MTA facilities Raises $2.1 billion annually Regional Mass Transit Improvements Additional bus service improvements put in place before tolls BRT network should be expanded and implemented at a faster pace L-R: NY Governor David Patterson, Richard Ravitch, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg

  19. Ravitch Plan Meets Albany

  20. May 2009: Financing Secured • Fares – Subway fares up to $2.25 from $2.00; Commuter rail tickets and tolls up 10% • Regional Mobility Tax -- Excise tax of .33 cents for every $100 dollars … imposed on employers • Fees and Surcharges (apply only in MTA Region) • -- 50¢ surcharge on taxi cab fares • -- $25 surcharge on vehicle registration • -- $2 annual fee on drivers license • -- 5% tax on car rentals • Raises $2.2 billion annually No New Bridge Tolls, but large budget gap remains

  21. Final Thoughts • No permanent fixes; financing transit is a reoccurring challenge. • New York goes farther than most regions to cross-subsidize between highways and transit • A growing region must grow its transit system • Must find a way to capture the value created by transit to help finance the system. Auto-free Broadway unveiled May 25, 2009 in Times Square

More Related