On Election Day, musings about transit’s role

More than half of New Yorkers rely on public transportation to commute to work. More than half of New York households do not own a single car. More than one billion MetroCard swipes were counted by New York City Transit in 2008. Yet, I can’t help but feel that something is amiss with the city’s focus, or lack thereof, on transit policy issues.

According to the Furman Center’s State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods report, city-wide reliance on public transportation hit a decade-long high in 2007. That year, 56.7 percent of all New Yorkers 16 and over who do not work at home and commute to a job do so via our city’s transit. With a recession settling in last year and this, that number could approach 60 percent by decade’s end.

Comparatively, in the 2000 Census, car ownership covered less than half of the city’s households. In fact, 53.5 percent of all households city-wide do not own a car. With insurance, gas and parking as well as routine maintenance top considerations, that number should increase as well in the 2010 Census.

Yet, public transit seems to be the proverbial fifth wheel in New York City. The state legislature begrudgingly approved a bailout for the MTA that is now proving to be rather unpopular with, well, everyone. The city eschewed an opportunity for $354 million from the federal government when business and car owners, a distinct minority in this city, fought back against first congestion pricing plans and then East River bridge tolls. Free roads, they argue, are a necessity, and as our transit system limps along, these opponents to a sensible solution argue that tolls would destroy the economy. No; drastic cutbacks from the MTA would in fact destroy the city’s economy.

Finally, we have the residents of the city. Part of being a New Yorker involves complaining about the MTA. Complain about the service, the smell, the crowds, the waits, the decrepit stations, the weekend changes. Complain about the fares, the fare hikes. But then, when people — wide-eyed transit advocates — suggest radical solutions, most New Yorkers shrug it off. Think small seems to be the mantra when, in reality, the city should be thinking big.

Meanwhile, enter Michael Bloomberg and Bill Thompson. Mayor Bloomberg has put forth a strong transit platform with some great ideas, but his record of MTA support is lacking. Bill Thompson has a lackluster platform, but his public statements belie any sort of transit commitment. In fact, on the day before Election Day, Bill Thompson joined one Bed-Stuy business owner in bashing a planned bus-rapid transit lane while around the corner, scores of people waited for a packed bus to show up. This is Bedford Stuyvesant, an area of Brooklyn where 69.9 percent of the population relies on transit. Yet one car owner may lose her parking spot, and it’s a campaign issue.

Something has to give. One day, we might all wake up and realize the MTA can’t meet the demands of a international economic hub that relies on its subway and bus systems to shuttle people from one end of the city to the other. One day, we might all wake up and find that our politicians have recognized that cars are incidental to the way New York excels and that the public transportation system, and not free bridges, is the true lifeblood of the city.

For now, though, that is a dream. I’ll pull the lever later today for a candidate that I hope can do something for transit, and maybe in four years, someone will come along with a real plan for rational urban development in New York City, one that only pays lip service to transit but delivers results as well. The city can ill afford to wait much longer.