New York, NY -- On Monday, February 12th, the NYC Council Committee on Transportation, Chaired by Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, held an oversight hearing on Public Transit in NYC and how public transportation can better serve the needs of New Yorkers.
Council Member Rodriguez delivered this opening statement at the hearing:
Good Morning and welcome to the New York City Council Committee on Transportation. My name is Ydanis Rodriguez and I am the chair of the committee.
This morning we will examine public transit and the many ways improvements in public transportation options can improve the lives of New Yorkers. Out city's public transportation systems are what make New York one of the pre-eminent global cities. The ability to quickly move New Yorkers, tourists and commuters quickly throughout the five boroughs is the envy of cities across the world. But as this committee has explored in the past, transit deserts persist, creating highly inconvenient commutes for New Yorkers living far away from subway service, bike share, or bus routes. In parts of southeast Queens or Brooklyn, commutes can sometimes mean multiple modes of transportation and commutes of an hour and a half one-way. In a New York, we know the value of every minute, so three hours spent traveling every day could be spent in countless other productive ways.
But time is not the only cost some New Yorkers are burdened with. For many, the cost of MetroCard is preventative, meaning they must forego job opportunities, education, cultural experiences, doctor appointments and more. This true today and we know that with fares set to increase next month, household budgets will see an even greater strain. In a 2016 report conducted by the Community Service Society, who we will hear from momentarily, over 300,000 New Yorkers allocated more than 10% of their household budgets to travel costs. In a city where two thirds of New Yorkers renters are rent burdened, spending half of their incomes on housing, the budget crunch of travel can be particularly hard on those with lower-incomes across our city.
We know that in some other major American cities, for residents living far below the poverty line, local governments have made a point to offer assistance, providing half priced fares to ensure residents are still able to travel freely. In Seattle, poverty-stricken residents are able to obtain a card for their local transit system at $1.50 off of the base fare. San Francisco also offers a similar program and even some smaller municipalities like Dayton, Ohio have taken up the effort.
In New York City, where nearly half of New Yorkers live in poverty, developing a system to support those most in need travel to work or school can be a tremendous benefit. In the same report by CSS, savings in travel costs incurred by those eligible for this program totaled as high as $700 dollars per year. For fixed income households, that money could mean clothing or food for children. It could also mean that families can afford to take necessary trips to doctors, take children to a museum or park, or college students being able to make their classes. As someone who faced this struggle myself in college, sometimes walking miles from my home in northern Washington Heights down to City College because my family was on a tight budget, I know the impact this can have.
That is why we will hear today from a number of panels who have endorsed the initiative known as Fair Fares, including some New Yorkers who stand to benefit most from this benefit. The committee welcomes this testimony, and I want to thank Community Services Society and Riders Alliance for their strong advocacy on behalf of New Yorkers in need. We know very well that while our city has taken many strides over the past 3 years in our efforts to close the poverty gap, there is always room to improve. I can think of few policies more finely targeted toward supporting hard-working New Yorkers looking to climb their way into the middle class.
Public transportation can be improved in other ways as well and I am proud of recent efforts and others that will be under way shortly, aimed at shortening commutes for New Yorkers living in transit deserts. It was welcome news last week when the MTA announced a pilot program for what is known as the "Freedom Ticket." The idea behind it is simple: City residents should be able to take commuter rail services such as the LIRR or the Metro North for a far lower price if travelling exclusively in New York City. For residents living in far out Queens, southern Brooklyn or central and south Bronx, commuter rail into the central business district could cut commute times in half or more. It could also reduce serious crowding on packed subway lines that cause delays system wide. This is something I and my colleague Council Member Miller have been advocating for for several years now and are very glad to see a pilot program in the works. We look forward to hearing more details about this plan from the MTA as it moves forward.
There is also exciting news coming from the NYC DOT, whom we will hear from in just a moment, about their plans for a citywide transit study. We will hear details on this effort in just a moment, as well as the outreach plans already underway, aimed at getting feedback from New Yorkers about what's needed where. This study, began thanks to legislation from Council Member Lander and myself, will look at recent population shifts as well as expected trends in the future, and where investments in public transit are most needed. We know the administration has already highlighted the potential benefits of a Utica Avenue subway line and my office has put forward ideas for a shuttle train along Fordham Road in the Bronx, ending in northern Manhattan, with the potential to connect numerous subway and commuter rail lines. I also hope that this study will continue to focus on transit deserts like the north shore of Staten Island, the south Bronx and eastern Queens.
Finally, we hope to hear briefly about upcoming plans for Citywide Ferry Service, expected to launch later this year; any updates on the BQX project and the potential for Citi Bike expansion, one of the most cost effective transportation modes that we need to bring to more communities citywide, especially those in lower-income transit deserts.
There is much we can do to continue improving public transportation, as well as making it accessible to more New Yorkers across the city. Whether due to cost or distance, we know there are many more who can be served by this transformative public good, and I am eager to see some of these ideas put into action soon. We know that public transportation is the most cost efficient, energy efficient and sometimes even time efficient way of moving throughout the five boroughs.
Quality transit options helps take cars of the streets and makes our city healthier and more sustainable. Investments in transit can have tremendous returns and the evidence could not be clearer, given New York City's position as a truly global city. We look forward to testimony from the administration and general public.
