StreetsPAC's Testimony to MTA Board on Congestion Pricing "Pause"

This past Wednesday, we testified at the MTA Board meeting to urge them to ignore Governor Hochul's "indefinite pause" of congestion pricing, which had been due to launch on June 30. While we knew that the Board didn't have the legal authority to move forward on its own, we still felt it worthwhile to urge them to do so. And we were heartened to hear the overwhelming commitment among MTA Board members to the implementation of the Central Business District Tolling Program.

You can help keep the pressure on by making phone calls to express your support for congestion pricing. Don't let up until the Governor reverses course!

Governor Hochul: (518) 474-8390

Senator Schumer: (212) 486-4430

Senator Gillibrand: (212) 688-6262

Assembly Speaker Heastie: (518) 455-3791

Our full testimony to the MTA Board follows below.

We all know that Governor Hochul has put this Board in a difficult spot, but as board members, you have a fiduciary responsibility to the MTA, as well as a moral obligation to the millions of riders who depend on a functioning transit system every single day.

There is no viable alternative to fill the $15 billion hole that Governor Hochul has blown into the capital budget, and even if there were, no other funding stream would do anything to address the crippling congestion that costs the region’s economy more than $9 billion annually, according to the report released yesterday by INRIX – the worst figure for any city in the world. Nor is there an alternate revenue source that will improve environmental conditions, lower emissions, and lead to better health outcomes.

Only congestion pricing can do all those things – and it is the law of New York State.

The Governor cannot rule by fiat or pick and choose which laws to implement. We urge you in no uncertain terms to vote today against the resolution that seeks to ratify the Governor’s pause, and to move to implement the Central Business District Tolling Program on June 30th as planned. You have the opportunity to be heroes to straphangers, and heroes to progress. The MTA’s future – the City’s future – depends on it.

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published this page in News 2024-06-29 15:32:30 -0400
StreetsPAC
StreetsPAC supports candidates for public office who will champion Safe, Complete and Livable Streets.