The Ravitch Plan is out. As expected, it features a broad call for tolls on the East River crossings, a blanket payroll tax and a slightly higher fare hike. Ravitch believes that his plan can generate well over $2 billion a year and can help the MTA cover its operations budget while funding some of the authority’s ambitious capital campaign as well.
William Neuman and The Times are on the scene at the press conference. Here’s the news so far:
A state commission led by Richard Ravitch, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, on Thursday presented a wide-ranging rescue plan for the region’s subways, buses and commuter railroads that includes a new “mobility tax” on corporate payrolls; tolls on the East River and Harlem River bridges; a much smaller fare and toll increase than the cash-strapped authority has threatened; and improvements in bus service.
The plan would permit automatic, inflation-adjusted fare and toll increases every two years without public hearings, ending what Mr. Ravitch called a “political circus” the M.T.A. goes through every few years. The plan calls for a state takeover of the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro bridges, which have historically been free to motorists.
The mobility tax — 33 cents on every $100 of payrolls — would provide $1.5 billion a year, and the tolls would produce $600 million in net revenue a year ($1 billion a year in gross revenue minus expenses), Mr. Ravitch said, and the revenue stream would help finance a $30 billion to $35 billion M.T.A. capital plan for 2010 to 2014 that would help stimulate the economy while maintaining vital infrastructure.
During the press conference, Ravitch stressed how this recommendation is part of a whole. For it to work, the legislatures should not look at it as a piecemeal proposal. “This all fits together,” Ravitch said. “This is not a series of separable recommendations. This is an effort to spread the burden amongst the largest group that one possibly can.”
Gov. David Paterson, while allowing for negotiations with the state governing bodies, urged them to pass this package and be willing to take on necessary costs. “We’re gong to need to both houses of the Legislature to cooperate with us,” Paterson aid. “But I must reiterate to everyone here: These are tough times, and difficult choices will have to be made – by legislators, by executives, and even by the riders and rivers in the greater metropolitan area, with respect to the M.T.A.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg too spoke out in favor of the plan at this morning’s press conference. “The Legislature stated at that time that they could find other solutions to the M.T.A. longstanding fiscal imbalances, and I’m pleased to say the at the Ravitch Commission today is offering them more information and options,” Bloomberg said.
Money doesn’t just come from the sky. Someone will have to pay for our transit system and transit improvements. Right now, this is the best plan out there. It spreads the cost equitably with an eye toward the future. Until someone trumps Ravitch’s recommendations, we have to hope it gets approved.
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12 comments
As someone who thought the bridge tolls on the rivers was the best of the congestion pricing options, the Ravitch Commision plan is simpler than and superior to the Mayor’s congestion pricing proposal.
Let’s roll up our sleeves and make it happen. We need, and I expect, some major federal spending on infrastucture to bolster the capital plan . . . but that is necessary in addition to this bundle of revenues.
I’ve got to take a closer look at the proposals, but this tracks pretty well with what I called for over on Streetsblog the week before Thanksgiving.
http://www.streetsblog.org/200.....ment-59225
[…] 2nd Ave. Subway History « Ravitch: Plan not ‘separable recommendations’ […]
I like the idea of automatic fare increases to match inflation without review. Other mass transit organizations do that (TriMet in Portland), and I think it makes sense.
Where does this new plan leave the MTA? They have to produce a new budget in a couple weeks. Can they count on these changes happening, or have to stick to their doomsday predictions and cuts?
I’d like to see the MTA do some internal cost-cutting before these measures are put in place. Cut middle management, get some more productivity out of the TWU (i.e. no more track layers sitting around with nothing to do during rush hour), that sort of thing. It would also be helpful if they’re not cooking their books this time around.
David Paterson’s acceptance of the proposal is encouraging. A few weeks ago he said tax increases would not be a good response to the recession and instead recommended spending reductions. That he supports this round of hikes shows a) that he is pragmatic and b) that he will support transit whatever it takes.
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I live in Long Island City. Tolling the Queens Boro Bridge is going to create the worlds worst traffic jam in front of my building. I do not live inside Manhattan because I didn’t like the constant noise, not that LIC is quiet but its better. This is going to be a nightmare for the communities that exist around the east river crossings. We should have passed congestion pricing when we still had the chance.
No, it wouldn’t. The plan includes E-ZPass-only tolls with license plate cameras for those cars wthout E-ZPasses. This won’t significantly slow down traffic below the 30-mph New York City speed limit and shouldn’t lead to more traffic.
As a NJ guy, I worry about the use of the E-ZPass toll collection procedure.
We were promised by Gov. Whitless, that the people who didn’t pay their tolls would pay for the system. I wonder how well the TA’s system will work. What if they are stuck with a lot of deadbeats.
In France, and I think also in the New York area, they have barriers. Even drivers with E-ZPass (or its French equivalent) have to slow down slightly, until the system detects their card and lifts the barrier. In London and Singapore, there are no barriers, but there are cameras that automatically take a picture of the license plate if the card isn’t present; Israel’s sole toll road works entirely with photographing license plates.
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