Video from “Traffic Congestion and the Future of Mass Transit: What’s Next?”
July 6, 2008
For those of you who missed the public forum I held on June 26, it was an excellent event. Here is some video of what you missed.
The event started with introductory remarks from each of our three panelists. First, Ted Kheel from the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility spoke.
Next, Gene Russianoff from NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign gave his remarks.
Finally, Jeffrey Zupan of the Regional Plan Association gave his introduction.
Then we took questions from the audience. The following clips show me reading an audience member’s question and different members of the panel responding to those questions.
QUESTION 1: Is the MTA fundamentally broken? Has any third party actually looked at the MTA’s books? And what can be done to make the MTA more responsive?
QUESTION 2: Why do we persist in linking funding mass transit with vehicle reduction?
QUESTION 3: Is is it realistic to expect progress out of Albany on things like bus lane cameras?
QUESTION 4: What can we expect from the federal government in terms of mass transit money in the future?
QUESTION 5: Should we consider changing to a system where MTA users pay based on the length of their ride?
QUESTION 6: How is congestion pricing working in other cities that have adopted it?
QUESTION 7: How do we change the culture of the way MTA riders use the system to make it more efficient (i.e. leaving from the back of the bus)?
QUESTION 8: Why are we investing in old technologies with the MTA?
QUESTION 9: How could free mass transit reduce vehicle usage?
QUESTION 10: If each of you could be the Czar of Mass Transit - what would your plan be?
