New York City is one of the nation’s most densely populated regions. Over three million people come into Manhattan each day.

The Borough President has been a strong and early advocate of congestion pricing for New York City and an equitable five-borough transportation plan.  He continues to argue that New Yorkers deserve clean air, safe streets, and a high functioning mass transit system.

At the end of his first year in office the Borough President convened a first-of-its-kind citywide conference on transportation, Manhattan on the Move, bringing together more than 500 policy makers, advocates, and business and community leaders to develop recommendations for solving the transportation challenges facing the city. The feedback from that conference became the basis of the Borough President’s transportation agenda on issues including the future of subways and commuter rails, car and truck traffic, buses, pedestrians, streets and sidewalks, neighborhood based planning and comprehensive city- and region-wide planning. Additional initiatives of the Borough President in the area of transportation are described below.

• Thinking Outside the Box: An Analysis of Manhattan Gridlock and Spillback Enforcement, an investigative report released in 2006 showing that a uniform lack of law enforcement is responsible for the economic, health and environmental problems caused by traffic blocking major Manhattan intersections. As a result of this report Mayor Bloomberg decided to take action and, in July 2007 the Borough President and the Mayor announced enforcement measures to prevent drivers from blocking intersections, including funding for an additional 117 Traffic Enforcement Agents and new authority for other personnel to issue tickets, which is currently being negotiated in Albany.
• The State of Repairs: An Examination of Elevator and Escalator Maintenance and Repairs in New York City’s Subway System, an investigative report demonstrating that frail and disabled New Yorkers are routinely barred from mass transit due to the MTA’s failure to follow its own maintenance rules.  
• Support provided for neighborhood-based transportation initiatives such as the Greater Gansevoort Urban Improvement Project and the 9th Avenue Renaissance Project.
• Work with the Hell’s Kitchen/Hudson Yards Alliance and West Side elected officials to craft Principles for Development for the West Side Rail Yards. Borough President Stringer is now working with the City and the MTA to implement these principles and ensure a transparent planning process for the future development of the yards.
• Ongoing advocacy for a new Moynihan Train Station to diminish crowding and lay the foundation for the comprehensive transportation planning New York City desperately needs.

Ongoing Issues of Concern

Improving Public Transportation

If New York City is going to encourage people to get out of their cars, attractive alternatives must be available. It is therefore essential that our buses, subways and commuter rail lines are the best they can be. It has taken over $40 billion to bring our subway system back from the dilapidation of the 1970’s and the MTA is consequently saddled with bond debt service that eats up an ever increasing proportion of operating revenues. Moreover, there are ongoing funding inequities between the City and State as well as among the branches of the MTA that add to the financial pressure on the authority.

Second Avenue Subway

The Second Avenue Subway will bring unparalleled economic and quality of life benefits to Manhattan residents.  It will help ensure the economic competitiveness of the metropolitan region for decades to come.  It must be built.

Bus Rapid Transit

The MTA and NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) have completed a study of bus rapid transit (BRT) and chosen five demonstration routes for a trial, which is slated to be implemented in 2008.  Once these pilot programs are implemented, the insight they provide should be used to create BRT routes strategically throughout the city.  With Manhattan cross-town buses among the slowest in the city, it is important that street space and traffic priority be given to buses over private vehicles.

Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Bike Parking

We have to make the city’s streets safe and pleasant for walkers and cyclists. Traffic calming techniques, which create the perception that the road is more like a residential street and less like a highway, cause drivers to slow down and be more aware of their surroundings. In addition to safety, another reason people do not commute by bike is the lack of safe bike parking. Creating such parking should be a priority in order to move forward toward getting more New Yorkers out of their cars.

Disabled Riders

People with disabilities are still routinely denied access to our subway platforms.  With new leadership, the MTA should use the data reflected in the Borough President’s investigative report to reverse these unacceptable conditions.