Good morning. My name is Tom Wright. I am the President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, a 100-year-old research, planning and advocacy organization that works to promote the health, equity, prosperity and sustainability of New York City and the entire tri-state metropolitan region.

I’ve been working on variations of the Gateway program now for over 25 years, and I have been commuting through Penn Station for over 20 years. So today’s topic is deeply personal to me.

There are a few points I want to make to this distinguished committee:

First, new research from RPA underscores how important it is that we invest in maintaining, expanding and improving our rich but ailing public transit system. Some have been asking whether we should continue to expand our transit network in a post-COVID, work-from-home world. So we ran the numbers, projecting high and low estimates of regional growth and Work from Home, and what they would mean for a range of potential outcomes.

The results were clear.

Even under the most pessimistic assumptions, we projected that trans-Hudson travel would be at or above 2019 levels by the time this project is completed, and would increase from pre-COVID levels by at least 15% by 2050, and possibly by as much as 32%.

And of course, the overcrowded conditions of 2019 should not be the future we work towards.

That’s why it is so important that we build the Gateway Program, which will double capacity under the Hudson River, and renovate and expand Penn Station.

Second, value capture has a lot of potential as a tool here, even if the cost of the project and revenues generated by the PILOTs are hard to pin down this early in the process. It has been noted that the MTA lost an important opportunity to finance the Second Avenue Subway when it failed to put a value capture mechanism in place. If the MTA had been able to capture some of the value that the subway created, we would almost certainly be further along on Phase Two.

The IBO has raised legitimate questions about the cost of the Penn Station renovation and expansion, and how much funding the PILOTs will generate. We agree with their concerns, but believe there is a way to answer these important questions as the process moves forward. The Legislature should also take a hard look at the large subsidies it gives to Madison Square Garden via its annual property tax exemption.

Third, we need all the capacity at Penn Station that this plan will create. Some critics of the GPP have suggested that Penn Station does not need to be expanded, but could be redesigned to handle the new passengers that Gateway will bring. We have looked at the engineering studies and consulted with the partner agencies, and concluded that while through-running brings some operational and capacity benefits, it cannot by itself provide enough capacity to handle the vast majority of commuters whose origin or destination will always be Penn Station. The agencies are continuing to examine these options through the EIS process, and we look forward to seeing their conclusions.

We are strong advocates of through-running service, but I would caution that advocates saying Penn Station doesn’t need to be expanded are making these claims without any reliable engineering studies on their side.

Fourth, time is not on our side.

We have a window of opportunity to start making improvements at Penn Station when East Side Access opens up at the end of this year and siphons roughly 25% of Penn Station commuters to Grand Central Madison. This window will close in just a few years, when Penn Access starts bringing Metro-North commuters directly to Penn Station.

Furthermore, just as One Vanderbilt connected to East Side Access, redevelopment around Penn Station can, through the GPP, provide significant public improvements – not only to Penn Station but to the much larger subway network in the district.

Additionally, it is highly likely that Congress may flip in November and drastically reduce discretionary federal funds for transit. The longer we wait to identify where the local match comes from, the less likely we are to secure a major federal contribution.

And finally, the longer this takes, the more expensive it will be. The Hudson Tunnel Project alone adds at least $1.2 million dollars per day we delay. There are still many moving parts and some unanswered questions, but we’re seeing progress on many fronts. The partner agencies are working together on plans to renovate and expand Penn Station and come up with a funding package that can gain federal support.

Our elected officials – including Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, and our Congressional delegation led by Chuck Schumer – are showing great support and collaboration working together to make this a reality.

That’s why we are supporting this process, and are committed to seeing it through.

Thank you for your time.