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Transit advocates want more bus, subway service funding in Gov. Kathy Hochul's budget
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Feb 22, 2023
Modified Feb 23, 2023
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Photo courtesy Riders Alliance
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Feb 22, 2023
Modified Feb 23, 2023
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City leaders and transit advocates rallied outside of Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul to invest more money into increasing bus and subway frequency in her upcoming state budget.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams joined area politicians, Transit Workers Union Local 100 leaders and members of transit advocacy group Riders Alliance in calling for an additional $300 million for more frequent off-peak bus and subway service. Hochul unveiled her $227 billion budget plan on Feb 1, kicking off two months of negotiations ahead of the April 1 start of the state’s fiscal year.
“Transit equity demands that Governor Hochul and legislative leaders negotiate a budget that funds more frequent subway and bus service,” Riders Alliance Lead Organizer Mayra Aldás-Deckert said. “Workers commuting off-peak wait 12, 15, even 20 minutes for buses and trains… riders sometimes spend more time waiting for service than we do traveling to our destinations.”
Hochul’s current budget includes a number of MTA-related financial proposals, including among other things $800 million in funding from payroll taxes, $500 million in annual contributions from New York City, $300 million in one-time state aid, and future funding from casinos.
Hochul also said she wants the MTA to find more than $400 million in savings — something transit advocates interpret as service cuts. In December, the agency announced reduced service on Mondays and Fridays, and increased service on weekends. But Hochul has denied service cuts are a part of the plan to salvage the financially wavering MTA.
"We’re facing a fiscal cliff,” Hochul said on Tuesday. “All of us have to share in the pain of saving this because we have to. This is the lifeblood of the region. We cannot let the MTA fail or reduce services."
Meanwhile, Kevin Willens, the MTA’s chief financial officer officer, said the governor’s budget could solve the agency’s funding deficit during a monthly committee meeting on Tuesday.
“If enacted it will provide MTA financial stability through 2026 and beyond,” Willens said.
But advocates on Wednesday maintained that there’s room in the budget for more money for the MTA for increased service without service cuts or fare hikes.
“What we are going to get this year in the budget is that we don’t have a fare hike, we do not take the hike to three dollars, is to ensure that have frequent service, six-minute service for our trains, 20% increase across our bus system, and to make buses free across New York City,” said Assemblymember Zohran Kwame Mamdani, who introduced a proposal to “fix” the MTA in December.
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Catalina Gonella
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