Increasing Driver License, Car Registration Fees Could Raise $550 Million for Cash-Starved MTA
December 1, 2008
So it’s “official,” our country has been in a recession since December, 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which announced the non-news earlier this morning.
Of course, we already knew this to be true for many months. On November 20th, MTA CEO Elliot Sander told the MTA Board, that new economic forecasts show projected deficit gaps of “$383 million for 2008, $1.441 billion for 2009, $2.394 billion for 2010, and nearly $3 billion in 2012, before prior-year carryover or gap closing actions.”
As I’ve blogged before, I am very concerned about the fiscal outlook for the MTA and how cuts to services, capital projects, system maintenance, and increased user fees will impact riders. But the negative effects spillover beyond transit users. The MTA is the lifeblood of the New York metropolitan area and when it suffers, so does the regional economy.
On September 15th, the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) testified before the Ravitch Commission and outlined a number of practical suggestions for how to increase dedicated mass transit revenue.
Today, I wrote to Governor Paterson to urge that two CBC proposals be included in his 2009 Executive budget: Raising car registration fees and driver license fees by at least $50 annually.
When CBC President Carol Kellermann testified before the Ravitch Commission she noted that today the cost for a driver license in New York is under $6 annually. Raising annual fees for driver licenses to $50 would yield nearly $300 million. New York has the 8th lowest vehicle registration fees in the country (according to the CBC’s 2006 study South Carolina has the lowest at $12, and Maine has the highest at $435), and raising the vehicle registration fees would net an additional annual revenue stream of $250 million.
With the Ravitch Commission’s report due to be released on Friday, now is the time to be examining all the options including this one and other good ideas like reinstituting the commuter tax.
Recently, New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. outlined a proposal to impose a weight-based transit-dedicated assessment of $100 for vehicles weighing 2,300 pounds or less, plus $.09 for every pound of curb weight over 2,300. This is an interesting idea that I believe merits further study. It differs from the CBC proposal which would see a flat fee increase for car registration fees.
In these tough financial times, I believe that it makes sense that those who choose to drive should help bear the costs of maintaining our public transportation infrastructure. These two new recurring revenue streams would constitute a good start in getting the MTA’s finances back on track.
In my letter, I suggested that during the first two to three years of this budget crisis, the MTA be given the flexibility it needs to put this revenue towards its operating deficit. But in the long term this money should be used for capital needs. After the third year I suggested that these recurring funds be dedicated 70% towards the MTA’s capital plan and 30% towards the NYS Department of Transportation Five Year Capital Plan - a fund which finances highway, tunnel, and bridge projects across the state.
I told the Governor that if these proposals were not included in the budget, I was prepared to introduce them as a separate piece of legislation. My letter to Governor Paterson can be found in the Publications area of my website.
Heartless Proposal by MTA to Double Access-A-Ride Fares is Discrimination, Plain and Simple.
November 24, 2008
I am thoroughly disgusted with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s proposal to double fares for Access-A-Ride users. While the MTA is considering raising fares for able-bodied straphangers by as much as 50% (from $2 to $3); they are asking riders with disabilities to absorb an unprecedented 100% fare increase from $2 to $4.
This past weekend, I joined Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, State Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assembly Member Jonathan Bing, and Councilmember Gale Brewer at a press conference along with advocates representing Disabilities Network of NYC, Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State, Center for Independence of the Disabled NY, Disabled in Action, and the 504 Democratic Club. At the press conference we collectively denounced the proposed fare hike. Access-A-Ride is critical to those who need it, and the revenue that doubling this fare will bring is comparatively unimpressive.
The current standard of fare equity is the minimum a just society should expect. Like a good old fashioned train robbery, the MTA is ambushing paratransit riders because they know that people with disabilities have no other transportation options. This is the most regressive fare hike the MTA has ever proposed because those who can least afford to pay are being asked to shoulder the greatest burden.
I am also not convinced that this is a legal proposal. The transportation provisions of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act cover public transportation services, like the MTA system. Public transportation authorities may not discriminate against people with disabilities in the provision of their services. So if a local authority like the MTA chooses not to adequately serve clients with disabilities in its regular system, it is instead required by federal law to create a parallel paratransit system. Decades ago when the ADA was passed, the MTA chose not to make the regular transit system accessible (today there are just over 50 subway stations of 468 that have elevators), so it was required to create the Access-A-Ride service. It goes against the spirit of the ADA to charge people with disabilities more to use a system designed to compensate them for not having access to the regular mass transit system.
I will be doing everything I can to oppose this proposal and I will continue to keep you updated. My press release on this topic can be found in the Publications area of this website.
Another MTA Fare Hike: It Doesn’t Have to be Déjà Vu (all over again)
July 22, 2008
Just last year, I stood on the steps of City Hall with Gene Russianoff of NYPIRG’s Straphangers Campaign to protest an MTA fare hike. Now it’s happening all over again.
It came as no surprise to me when a MTA official leaked to the New York Times that once again the MTA is facing widening budget deficits. New York State has all but abandoned its fiscal responsibility to the MTA for the last decade and a half, leaving the Transit Authority’s fiscal health up to the volatility of real estate taxes, while forcing the MTA to balance shortfalls on the backs of middle and low-income straphangers through repeated fare hikes. The MTA is once again looking at another fare and toll hike, which would be only the second time in the 100 year history of the subway that fares are raised in back-to-back years.
While the MTA’s budget deficits look grim, and a fare hike seems unavoidable, it is only because New York State refuses to unshackle itself from one of the most regressive income tax structures in the country. What most New Yorkers don’t even realize is that if they make $45,000 a year they are in the same income tax bracket as New York’s elite millionaires and billionaires.
Last March the Assembly Democratic Caucus announced a plan to raise $1.5 billion in revenue for transportation through a less than 1% income tax surcharge on those New Yorkers earning over a million dollars. While Governor Paterson and the State Senate did not embrace this plan at the time, I believe the current state of the MTA’s finances demand that the Governor take a second look. If Governor Paterson has the foresight to call the legislature back to Albany to pass some form of the millionaire’s tax he would break the cycle of balancing the MTA’s budget on the backs of straphangers who can least afford to pay.
But an income tax surcharge on those earning over a million dollars is only a short term solution. If Governor Paterson has the vision and the fortitude he should champion a more progressive income tax structure as the centerpiece of his 2009 legislative agenda, such as the Working Families Party has put forward, we should go far beyond just plugging the MTA’s budget gaps and instead reinvigorate our State’s fiscal health, while giving millions of middle- and low- income New Yorkers tremendous tax savings.
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?
Second Avenue Small Business Tax Relief Bill Passes Assembly
June 25, 2008
Close to midnight last night, my Second Avenue Subway small business tax relief bill passed the New York State Assembly as we wrapped up the 2008 legislative session.
A.10924 offers a property tax abatement to property owners if they are able to sign or re-negotiate a reduced lease to current or prospective small business commercial tenants located in the construction area. The bill is sponsored in the State Senate by Senator José Serrano. While the bill has yet to pass there, the Senate bill has moved to committee and the Senate will reconvene in July.
Construction began on the most recent incarnation of the MTA’s Second Avenue Subway project in April 2007. Due to rising construction costs, the MTA recently announced that the first phase of the construction—from 96th Street to 63rd Street—will be delayed by two years, moving the completion date of this phase to 2015.
When the construction is finally complete and the new subway line opens for business, what kind of neighborhood will be there to greet it? Will we have driven Second Avenue’s small businesses into extinction or will we still have the same vibrant, family-friendly community we knew before the construction began? By passing this legislation, the Assembly has demonstrated its commitment to giving small business owners a fair shake and preserving the community we know and love.
YOU ARE INVITED —– Traffic Congestion & the Future of Mass Transit: What Next?
June 12, 2008
I am hosting a special panel discussion on Thursday, June 26, 7:00 PM at the New York Blood Center, 310 East 67th Street. With the recent failure of the Mayor’s congestion pricing proposal, it is vital that New York continues to seek solutions to the problem of traffic congestion and meeting the mass transit funding gap. This event will bring together leading experts to discuss how to address the challenges posed by too much traffic and not enough funding for mass transit.
The three panelists are a distinguished group that I am proud to have participating. They are Theodore Kheel (Institute for Rational Urban Mobility), Gene Russianoff (NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign), and Jeffrey Zupan (Regional Plan Association)..
I hope to see you there. Space is limited, so please RSVP to my community office by calling (212) 860-4906.
New Legislation to Support Second Avenue’s Small Businesses
June 12, 2008
I’m a big supporter of the Shop 2nd Avenue campaign and its mission. Visit their website to find out more.
On May 5, I introduced A.10924 a bill to ease the burden of subway construction on Second Avenue’s hard-working small business owners. My bill is designed to help small businesses by offering property tax relief to landlords who agree to sign or re-negotiate reduced-cost leases for their small business commercial tenants. Senator José Serrano is sponsoring this bill in the State Senate.
I’m also proud to co-sponsor legislation (A.10594/S.8154) introduced by my colleagues, Assembly Member Jonathan Bing and Senator José Serrano, which would create an economic development grant program to provide financial and technical assistance to small businesses in the affected area.
The Second Avenue Subway will bring tremendous benefits to the East Side (and to the whole metropolitan area) in the long run. But during the lengthy construction period - which will last well over two and a half decades - residents, business, and property owners within the affected area will suffer. Already, small business owners along Second Avenue between 91st and 96th Streets have seen dramatic losses in business since construction began, as they face torn-up sidewalks, impeded pedestrian access, lost signage, revoked sidewalk café licenses, and interruptions in utility service.
These business owners have worked hard to overcome such challenges, and I’m proud to support their Shop Second Avenue campaign, which highlights all the many wonderful stores and restaurants Second Avenue has to offer. But I also believe that, since these New Yorkers are making a sacrifice for the betterment of the East Side and the entire region, it is important that New York State lend a helping hand.
Kellner Legislation to Create MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities Passes Assembly!
May 13, 2008
I am very proud to announce that my bill to create an MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities passed the Assembly today. Below is the press release from just two days ago announcing this bill (and another related bill’s) introduction. Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal was quick with the cellphone camera and snapped me some photographic evidence of the bill’s debut to the big board in Assembly Chambers moments before its passage (Thanks, Linda!)
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For Immediate Release: May 10, 2008
IMPROVING MTA ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
New York City — Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Assembly Member Michele Titus, Chair of the Assembly Taskforce on People with Disabilities, and Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, were joined today by advocates representing thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities to announce a package of bills that have been introduced in the New York State legislature to reform the way that the MTA responds to the needs of transit riders with disabilities.
The first bill (A.10734-A/S.7817) creates the MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities, a 15-member appointed council will be geographically diverse representing riders who use NYC Transit, the Long Island Rail Road, and Metro North systems. The Council will have a non-voting seat on the MTA Board and will monitor all aspects of the MTA and make recommendations as to how to improve services. The Assembly is expected to take up this bill on Monday. The second bill (A.10420/S.7348) requires daily inspections of elevators, escalators, bus lifts, and other accessibility features in MTA facilities and establishes documentation requirements and oversight for their repair.
“The MTA has been failing the disabled community when it comes to meeting our transportation needs,” said Assembly Member Micah Kellner, who has cerebral palsy. “In 2007, I requested documents for eight elevators in ADA-compliant passenger stations to better understand how the MTA maintains features like elevators. What I found was an unacceptable number of outages, repeated breakdowns in the same station for the same problem, a disturbing lack of paper record-keeping, and a poor track record of fixing problems quickly. This is no small matter. When an escalator, elevator, or wheelchair lift is inoperable it means that a person with a disability is stranded.”
“The list of reasons why these changes are necessary is endless. For example, even the new, improved subway announcements – let alone the old garbled ones – are hard for the hearing impaired to understand,” said Senator Tom Duane. “Platform gaps on the LIRR threaten the safety of the visually impaired and wheelchair users. The recent closure of station agent booths in the subways has only worsened the situation for disabled riders who are able to overcome other obstacles to access that system, and these are only a few of the problems. The MTA needs to hear from people with disabilities and learn from their experiences. The best way to do this is to correct the lack of representation of people with disabilities on the board of the MTA itself.”
“For years, the MTA’s failure to carry out mandated inspections, as required by the building code, left frail and disabled riders in a situation resembling Russian Roulette,” said Borough President Scott Stringer. I believe the agency’s new leadership wants to make the system safe and reliable for people with disabilities – and this legislation will provide a framework for doing that. I urge the swift passage of both bills.” In 2006, Borough President Stringer released his report, The State of Repairs, which found that 74% of all elevators in ADA-compliant stations did not receive their mandated annual inspection and that the average elevator in an ADA-compliant station was out for 11 days.
“Seldom a day goes by where we do not receive a phone call or email message from someone who has had a negative experience with the MTA.,” says Lawrence Carter-Long, the Director of Advocacy of Disabilities Network of NYC. ” A breakdown in, or lack of transportation options for people with disabilities affects every other area of our lives – if you can’t get to or from your residence, place of business, or health care provider, your quality of life is diminished. Rather than solve the transportation problems faced by New Yorkers with disabilities, the MTA seems more inclined to add to them. These bills provide a necessary and overdue remedy the MTA has been unwilling to provide on its own.”
“We believe holding the MTA to greater accountability on elevator and escalator repairs as well as the creation of a MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities can only improve the accessibility of NYC Transit and assure riders with disabilities that it is safe to ride the subways,” said Carr Massi, President of Disabled in Action of Metropolitan New York.
“BCID has been requesting a seat at the MTA table as a representative of the community of people with disabilities for many years,” said Marvin Wasserman, Executive Director of Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID). “The passage of this legislation will guarantee full representation from the whole community of people with disabilities, not just a select few working within the community.”
“Appropriate access for people with disabilities is a civil right and a human right. It is time the ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] applied to mass transit,” said Janice Schacter, Chair of the Hearing Access Program (a consortium of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the League for the Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Loss Association of America).
“Hearing directly from people with disabilities through the proposed MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities is a needed reform. The MTA needs to address the problems of accessibility, signage, and staff training to make transportation in NYC truly available to all,” said Nancy D. Miller, Executive Director of VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
“Access to public transportation is critical for people with disabilities to live fruitful and productive lives and it is essential that public transportation is accessible, reliable, and safe all the time. We appreciate the efforts of Assemblyman Kellner and Senator Duane in support of the needs of NYC citizens with disabilities,” said Susan Constantino, President and CEO of Cerebral Palsy Associations of New York State.
“Guide Dog Users of New York is primarily eager to have consistent tactile edge markings at all subway stations. These small raised domes warn blind and visually-impaired people when they are nearing the platform edge and can save lives,” said David De Porte, President of Guide Dog Users of New York.
“We strongly support the quick enactment of both bills. An MTA Riders Council for People with Disabilities will give our community direct and sustained input to the MTA Board of Directors about making its entire system more friendly to wheelchair users and other aging and disabled passengers. Making subway elevator and escalator maintenance a higher priority is essential and long overdue. There is zero access to the subway system for our wheelchair-using members if elevators are always broken,” said Terence J. Moakley, spokesperson for the United Spinal Association.
“The NYC Chapter of the National MS Society fully supports legislation to create the MTA Riders Council for people with disabilities. Our members experience a variety of challenges using mass transit, including inaccessible subway stations, non-working elevators, inadequate signage, and dangerously large gaps between platforms and trains. As a result of these problems, people living with MS often cannot get to work or visit their families. It is crucial that people with disabilities have a voice on the MTA,” said Robin Einbinder, Executive Vice president of Programs and Services at the NYC Chapter of the National MS Society.
“We have long called for the MTA to increase elevator/escalator inspection, repairs and maintenance, as well as requiring a higher degree of accountability. We believe they also need to improve their communication with riders. Many passengers with disabilities refuse to use the subways because they are fearful of being stuck when an elevator/escalator is out of service,” said Edith M. Prentiss of the 504 Democratic Club.
“When people with disabilities believe they are able to travel safely and expediently on the subways, this saves the City and the MTA money. Both of these initiatives will help to increase the number of wheelchair users who ride buses and trains with confidence, thereby decreasing reliance on Access-A-Ride,” said Joe Rapporport of the Taxis For All Campaign.
“Elevator and escalator outages rank near the top among the myriad of barriers faced by persons with disabilities when attempting to use our mass transit system,” said Michael Harris, Executive Director of the Disabled Riders Coalition. “Sadly, the MTA has historically failed to recognize that we are fare-paying customers and deserve the same consideration as our non-disabled peers. Not only will this legislation force the MTA to address the issues of elevator and escalator maintenance, more importantly it will finally give riders with disabilities a seat at the table. I look forward to being in Albany on Monday where I hope to watch the Assembly pass this important legislation.”
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