EDF Urges MTA Board to Delay Transit Fare Hike; Proposes Investment in Innovative Transit and $230 Million in Federal Emergency Funds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contact:
Havelock Nelson, 212-576-2700, ext 235, hnelson@goodmanmedia.com 
Heath Fradkoff, 212-576-2700, ext 232, hfradkoff@goodmanmedia.com
 
(NEW YORK, New York – July 23, 2008) Andy Darrell, New York Regional Director of Enviromental Defense Fund (EDF), today urged the MTA to delay instituting a proposed eight percent fare increase. Instead, he proposed new investment in innovative transit solutions, and urged full use of alternative funding sources like congestion pricing to relieve pressure on the fare box. 
 
Darrell, who also serves as EDF’s Vice President for Living Cities, further urged New York’s Senators to do their part. “A package of bills has passed the House that would make $230 million in emergency transit relief available to New York right away. $1.7 billion nationwide. It hasn’t been introduced in the Senate. Yet. Senators Clinton and Schumer could change that. I ask everyone here in this room today to call them to ask them to lead the charge for a transit stimulus package right now.”
 
Darrell, who is a member of Mayor Bloomberg’s Sustainability Advisory Board and served as a member of the New York Traffic Mitigation Commission, made these comments in testimony given today at a meeting of the MTA Board. He is available to discuss his testimony, the meeting, and alternatives to MTA’s proposed fare-hike. The full text of Darrell’s statement follows:
 
“My name is Andy Darrell and I am Vice President for Living Cities at the Environmental Defense Fund. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. News reports indicate that today, the MTA will propose an unprecedented 8% fare hike, following on the heels of a fare hike just last year.   Service cuts. Another fare hike. The news could not be worse for the riding public.
 
“Especially now. High gas prices have pushed transit ridership to an unprecedented high. Not just here in New York, but nationwide. This map shows the cities in every part of the country that are facing soaring transit demand – 400,000 additional trips every day here in NYC’s subway system. 40% ridership increase in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale region. Southern California’s San Fernando Valley: 12%. Denver: 8%. Long Island Railroad (5.5% — 16,000 trips a day), Metro-North (4.3% — 12,000 trips a day).  
 
“Americans are turning to transit like never before. And they’re finding an overcrowded, overburdened system that simply can’t meet demand. Last night, I stood outside Penn Station at rush hour: commuters were being turned away because the station was too full. A 15-minute delay caused the station to overflow. Have you ever seen the bus lines in Jamaica? They snake down the street and around the corner every day. The crisis is real. It is now.
 
“Government must embrace this demand, not turn people away.   Washington, Albany and City Hall … the public is speaking with a powerful voice. Gas prices are high. The climate crisis is real. We need relief. And relief comes in the form of an affordable and sustainable ride to work: transit.
 
“I ask you today to take two key steps. First, to reorder your capital priorities toward projects that will deliver results for the riding public quickly. That means bus rapid transit for neighborhoods that don’t have easy access to subways. You’ve taken a great step forward with your Select Bus Service in the Bronx – finally, express bus service that is truly express.   In Maplewood, New Jersey, commuters get to the train station not by car but by a local van that stops at the corner. For the eastern communities of Brooklyn and Queens, for Nassau, for Westchester – why not there?
 
“Yes, I know that you will say that service like this can push up operating costs. And so it can. But with so many massive capital projects already under the gun, will we really notice another few years’ delay in a subway project that is already 20 years behind schedule … if we have fast, dependable bus service in our neighborhoods now? At a time when New Yorkers are lining up at the bus stop, the train station, the subway stop to demand more service: is this not the time for a radical reorientation of priorities?
 
“And second, I ask you to make the fare hike the last option – the choice of last resort. Of course each of us who rides transit must pay our share – it’s only fair. But so must Albany. So must City Hall. So must every commuter – even drivers, with tolls and congestion pricing. And so must Washington. 
 
“Last year, Albany turned away from congestion pricing – despite 67% public support and a 30-20 vote in favor in the City Council. If we had congestion pricing today, nearly 400 buses would be relieving overcrowding this year. New subway cars would be on order.   The MTA would be taking steps to meet demand, not turn it away. 
 
“With a higher fare, what are New Yorkers to do? Drive? With gas at $4 a gallon? With our population growing by a million more people? Can you imagine if driving became the commute of choice? That would drive our economy and city into deeper economic gridlock. How can our job market compete with London, Shanghai and other world capitals if we can’t get to work in an affordable and sustainable way? Shanghai just built the world’s fastest train. Are we saying that New York can’t build a few new bus lines?
 
“No, the fare hike must be the last resort. The Ravitch Commission is working to propose new funding sources, and we look forward to that result. And in addition to more State and City aid, Washington must do its part. A package of bills has passed the House that would make $230 million in emergency transit relief available to New York right away. $1.7 billion nationwide.   It hasn’t been introduced in the Senate. Yet. Senators Clinton and Schumer could change that. I ask everyone here in this room today to call them to ask them to lead the charge for a transit stimulus package right now. 
 
“Pick up the phone. Let’s get that done. And delay the fare hike.”
 

One of the world’s leading international nonprofit organizations, Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org) creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships. With more than 3 million members and offices in the United States, China, Mexico, Indonesia and the European Union, EDF’s scientists, economists, attorneys and policy experts are working in 28 countries to turn our solutions into action. Connect with us on Twitter @EnvDefenseFund