The time has come to fix NYC's transportation mess! 

Dear Majority Leader Flanagan and Speaker Heastie:

New York City’s transportation crisis has pushed voters to the breaking point. It’s undermining the state’s economic engine and New Yorkers’ quality of life.

It’s long past time for Albany’s leaders to fix our mess of a transit system – an embarrassing 20th century relic outclassed by the globe’s leading cities. With the 2018-19 budget session around the corner, we demand that you make fixing our crumbling subways and unclogging our congested roadways your number one priority.

Delays on our subways have tripled in the last five years as the aging system struggles to keep up with ridership. This dysfunction has grave economic consequences, especially for lower-income New Yorkers. Traffic in and around the Central Business District has hit all-time records. While long-term ridership is up, the current crisis is forcing riders to find other means of getting around the city, including using more for-hire vehicles that further jam up our streets.

Governor Cuomo has committed himself to including a “real” congestion pricing plan – which would address both traffic and transit funding – in his proposed executive state budget. We applaud his leadership and urge you to join him in ensuring that the 2018-19 budget includes a robust congestion pricing plan to address our transportation crisis.

A serious congestion pricing plan must:

(a) Include a “cordon” styled congestion charging zone (charges on the East River bridges and across 60th St. balanced by lowered tolls on the MTA’s seven "outer-borough" bridges) and For-Hire-Vehicle charges within the “taxi zone.”

(b) Raise substantial net revenue ($1B+ annually) to urgently repair, maintain, upgrade and expand the city’s mass transit system;

(c) Reduce traffic congestion by a significant degree (15% minimum); and

(d) Expand transit access, which includes affordability, to those living in so-called "transit deserts" and to low-income New Yorkers.

Voters are fed up. We need immediate solutions – not tinkering around the edges. The only acceptable outcome of the upcoming budget session is the enactment of a serious congestion pricing plan. Our economy requires a functioning transportation system and our city and our state deserve better. We’ll be watching closely to see if you provide the necessary leadership to get the job done.

Yours,