MESSAGE
| DATE | 2018-12-05 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [Hangout - NYLXS] The MTA SUCKS - what is 40 billio dollars
|
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-andy-byford-mta-city-council-20181204-story.html?outputType=amp
Transit chief claims to have curbed wasteful spending as he begs City
Council for $40 billion
By Dan Rivoli
| Transit Reporter, New York Daily News |
Dec 04, 2018 | 5:55 PM
(Left) President of New York City Transit Andy Byford gives testimony
during a meeting of the Council’s Transportation Committee on Tuesday.
(John McCarten)
The New York subway chief claims to have the magic bullet to curb
wasteful spending in the MTA.
“You now have fresh thinking,” transit bigwig Andy Byford told the City
Council on Tuesday as he pressed for $40 billion to fund his grand
vision for the subway and bus network. He convinced at least one key
lawmaker.
Byford testified before the Council’s Transportation Committee for three
hours harping on better train performance while pitching his plan,
called Fast Forward, that’s centered on resignaling 11 subway lines over
10 years with modern tech called communications-based train control.
“The thing that’s holding us back is the signaling system,” Byford said.
He said he’ll soon announce a new hire to oversee installation of the
new system.
With poor subway service plaguing riders, Byford assured the lawmakers
that there’s a cultural shift at the MTA that can better manage public
funding.
To pay for the Fast Forward plan’s potential $40 billion price tag,
Byford said he’d need city, state and federal funding for the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is state-controlled.
He cautioned that congestion pricing for all motorists in Manhattan
would fall short of what is needed.
Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, the chair of the transportation committee,
said he wants state lawmakers to pass congestion pricing plus a tax on
high-earning New Yorkers that Mayor de Blasio wants.
“I personally will lead any initiative to make the voice loud and clear
that the city should be open to increase the contribution, as the state
should do the same thing,” Rodriguez said. “But that money should be
dedicated only to the MTA and that money should only be used for
maintenance and repair.”
But a Brooklyn city councilman suggested that de Blasio’s transit
priorities are not only misplaced in pushing a Brooklyn-Queens
waterfront trolley, called the BQX, but hurting the chances of getting
Byford’s plan funded.
“This is I think of an example of where the emperor has no clothes,”
Councilman Carlos Menchaca said. “I feel like the mayor just does not
understand this is a terrible project.”
Menchaca, a democrat, emphasized that de Blasio’s interest in the BQX
could “have a negative impact” on Byford’s proposal because of the
amount of energy going into the mayor’s pet project.
"The Byford plan sets the right priorities, but the mayor believes we
need a long-term revenue source such as a tax on the wealthiest
millionaires in our city to help the trains run on time," de Blasio
spokeswoman Jaclyn Rothenberg said.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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