I often think that New Yorkers should care more about transit issues than they do. Whether people realize it or not, the subways are the hidden, underground force driving the New York City economy, and without them, the city will slow down. New York is the city that never sleeps because its subways never stop.
Still, most people are happy to remain in the dark on issues surrounding transit. They’re happy to repeat disproved tales of two sets of books and don’t understand the admittedly complicated financial structure that supports the MTA. They pay little attention to transit policy or the politics behind it. Most people do not have the time or energy to stay informs, and others will do it for them.
A recent Quinnipiac poll supports that belief. In a survey of New Yorkers’ political views and beliefs, the pollsters found that few people believe transit issues are that pressing. In fact, when asked what the most important problem facing New Yorkers are today, only five percent said mass transit issues were most important. Far more picked on education or the economy or even the overall budget as more pressing.
On an micro level, the numbers are even worse. Only three percent of respondents believe that quality mass transit/public transportation is a major problem while just one percent believe that highway or traffic congestion are of great concern. Of course, while those numbers are depressing, the poll is a binary one. Something either is the most important issue or isn’t, and respondents couldn’t grade issues on a sliding scale. Perhaps New Yorkers believe transit is a compelling problem but not the compelling problem of the day.
Over at Streetsblog, Noah Kazis found the silver lining in these poll numbers. Highlighting how more people picked public transit over congestion as a problem, Kazis wrote, “The voters most concerned with transportation — the ones who will be thinking about it at the ballot box — are far more interested in transit than traffic flow.”
That may very well be true, but it’s hard to find comfort in those figures. New Yorkers don’t mind public transit. They complain about it; they want trains to run more frequently, be less crowded and be nicer. But when push comes to shove, the economy and education will always remain of paramount importance.
What then can we do? I want to see a better transit system. I want to see smarter traffic and transit policies, a more robust investment in the system by our state politicians and realistic expansion plans that can happen in the next decade. I’d rather not see endless fare hikes and service cuts while the MTA races to cover its bottom line, but that’s where we are.
Until New Yorkers begin to pay more attention, transit will always just be a background issue. It’s easy to kick around the MTA because they mostly deserve it, and few people will bother to learn more about it. That’s just the nature of things right now. It might be an uphill battle, but I’ll keep fighting it. Transit should be a bigger issue amongst New York voters, but right now, it has a long way to go.
4 comments
Transit will not become a major enough of a concern until it finally does become a REAL political issue! It has to be in the top 5 stump concerns for a candidate and the only way that will happen is if the MTA forces the issue. One of the more sizeable fare hikes has to come in the middle of an election year.
Now the problem with this thinking is that the politicians control the MTA and the last thing a sneaky politician wants or needs is more political issues to worry about.
Ultimately it’s going to take resorting to extreme measures like scare tatics. Like those negative campaign commercials that come out every election year threatening the loss of certain services if X candidate is elected. This is what it’s going to take. But stuff like that costs money and what transit advocate has the money to do that.
Now this is exactly where Bloomberg could be useful.
Since the 50’s (and especially since 1980) people in the U.S. have been told that cars, cars, and cars are the American freedom-loving way of going places where one wants to go. Cars, the people have been told, are the lifestyle of luxury and comfort and freedom and individuality (even if standing in two hours of traffic!). Nobody cares about transit until they need to use it, at which point they still don’t want to fund it but want it to be perfect. It’ll take decades before this country smartens up on this issue.
This is only sort of on topic but would it be possible to actually put a ballot initiative in New York City for transit? It could be something like a .5% sales tax for 30 years and could be put towards expanding subway and bus lines. I’m not sure if this would be possible but it would test the public’s true support for transit.
I actually think the poll is a fair representation of New Yorkers’ concerns. And this is coming from a mass-transit advocate.
If you think about it, the state and progression of our economy and education systems have a more direct impact on human development than having an adequate mass transportation system. You export half of the jobs in Manhattan outside the city and New York loses much of its advantage, as well as the ability of (and perhaps necessity to) fund its mass transit system. Transportation is also an issue for which substitutes can be more easily and effectively sought out. Finding adequarte replacements for education (do the poor really have a choice other than potentially weak public schools?) and employment (look at all the workers facing displacement and/or reinvention in this climate) are much more difficult.
On the bright side, at least transporation takes precdence over vital, quality-of-life issues such as crime and housing.