The significance of a United States President’s ​“first 100 days” in office was first established during a time of national crisis when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt coined the term on a 1933 radio address during the depths of the Great Depression. Gripped by the greatest national crisis since Roosevelt’s presidency, Americans today are hoping for an effective, action-filled first 100 days from President-elect Joe Biden.

Among Roosevelt’s priorities during his first 100 days were getting Americans back to work, providing relief for the sick and elderly, and getting industry going again. Sound familiar?

RPA compiled a list of projects and regulatory actions we recommend the Biden administration prioritize in its first 100 days. Most of these specifically address the NY-NJ-CT metro region, which accounts for approximately 10% of the US economy, though others are national or international in scope. While this is not a comprehensive list, the actions below would help jumpstart a desperately needed recovery.

The Biden administration should provide immediate operating funding for the region’s transit agencies, and subsequently provide funding to support the capital plans of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), New Jersey Transit, the Amtrak Northeast Corridor Capital Investment Plan, and the Gateway Program.

As a start, immediate operating aid for our transit agencies will keep thousands of people employed. Absent federal relief, the MTA has planned cuts that would lay off 9,367 people. By 2022, these cuts to service and capital investments could cost the region as many as 450,000 jobs and $50 billion in lost earnings according to the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation. Similar situations could be in play for other agencies in 2021.

Beyond stabilizing our transit systems, the capital programs are a great way to provide jobs. If fully funded and implemented, the capital needs of the MTA, the City of New York, NYCHA, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and NJ Transit would generate an estimated 263,000 jobs per year from construction, purchases of materials and services, and the increased purchasing power of those directly employed.

In addition to these capital investments, there are a number of regulatory and planning actions that the federal government should undertake immediately to get projects moving more quickly. These include:

• Fast-track approval of NYC’s congestion pricing program for the MTA
• Issue the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Gateway Program Environmental Impact Statement, enabling planning and preliminary construction to begin
• Swiftly complete review for current offshore wind projects while opening up new lease areas for future projects.
• Restart the Army Corps of Engineers’ New York and New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries focus areas feasibility study (HATS), which would weigh the costs and benefits of different regional resilience approaches.

And while they may not have the same short-term economic impact, RPA urges the Administration to immediately rejoin the Paris Climate Accord and reinstate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision of the Fair Housing Act.

In addition to creating jobs, these actions would directly improve quality of life for millions of people. The approximately 400,000 residents of NYCHA would be less likely to die from COVID-19 if their homes did not have harmful impacts on their health. Residents of Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey, and New York City can continue to easily access jobs and opportunities if the MTA is not forced to slash public transit services as a result of pandemic-driven budget shortfalls. The capital plans of our region’s public transit agencies each have different funding sources and timeframes but taken together they represent a cross-sector infrastructure stimulus plan for the region, and many of the individual projects within them are shovel-ready.

Now is not the time to retreat from long-established infrastructure priorities and policies. Now is the time to invest in places and people to quicken recovery and secure a prosperous and equitable future for the region and nation.