Testimony sumbitted to NYC City Council August 8, 2018 by Tom Wright, President & CEO, Regional Plan Association.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on City Council introductions 144-B, Int 634-B, Int 838-C, Int 890-B, Int 925-A, and 958-A.

Last week we learned that subway and bus ridership in New York City has declined by 2.1% since 2015. While it may be easy to rush to blame for-hire-vehicles such as Uber and Lyft for these ridership declines, such a charge would be misleading and does not tell the full story of our city’s transportation’s crisis.

For-hire rides tend to be more expensive than a subway or bus ride. Nobody wants to pay more than they must to get where they are going, but faced with increasingly unreliable service on buses and the subway, riders – especially in the outer boroughs – are making the difficult choice to pay more to get around.

That’s why the largest increases in for-hire-vehicle usage have occurred in outer boroughs where subway and bus service can be abysmal. Where transit service has improved, such as the Upper East Side thanks to the Second Avenue Subway, we’ve seen for-hire-vehicle ridership actually decline.

While for-hire rides are not the cause of our transit woes, another study released last week provides powerful new data that suggests they are making traffic worse.

City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and other Council Members rightly wants to address the issue of congestion using the tools at their disposal, and we support a number of the proposals being discussed on August 8 2018. RPA strongly supports a standard wage for drivers and waiving licensing fees for accessible for-hire-vehicles and taxis. And we support studying for-hire-vehicle trends and data in order to create vehicle utilization standards for high volume services, so cars are used more efficiently. But the proposed cap is a blunt instrument that will not go far enough to reduce congestion. The cap wouldn’t distinguish between dense areas where transit is rich and areas far from transit in the outer boroughs, where for-hire-vehicles are providing a useful service. It doesn’t consider shifts in employment options or workforce conditions. And there are many ways to get around it, such as by using vehicles for longer portions of the day.

Any comprehensive plan to reduce traffic congestion and fund mass transit needs to account for the fact that approximately 94% of vehicle miles traveled in our city are by vehicles that are not for-hire. The Council should consider more holistic options than a cap on for-hire-vehicles.

The State Legislature this year passed a bill that allows for a surcharge on for-hire-vehicles in the most congested parts of Manhattan. The funding goes directly to the MTA to fund transit improvements, including those identified in NYC Transit’s Fast Forward plan. This creates a virtuous cycle that reduces traffic and improves transit simultaneously. A surcharge only on for-hire-vehicles will not solve congestion and the revenue it generates is not enough to fund NYC Transit’s ambitious Fast Forward Plan, but it was a good first step.

We need a comprehensive plan, and fortunately one exists. The FixNYC plan starts with a surcharge on for-hire-vehicles and expands it to include a charge on all drivers entering the most congested parts of the City. To reduce traffic, improve air quality, and create a meaningful and sustainable stream of revenue to improve transit, the State Legislature and the Governor must implement FixNYC. And the City Council plays a crucial role in getting this done.

There are many steps that can and must be taken now, even before the Legislature reconvenes:

1. The City Council can continue its excellent advocacy for congestion pricing and for MTA reform. We need Council Members to talk to their constituents, hear their concerns, and move towards a congestion pricing plan that works for their neighborhoods. We also need Council members to continue to ask the MTA to reform how it delivers capital projects to make sure every dollar is spent effectively. These reforms include implementing cost controls, improving transparency and accountability, streamlining the procurement process, putting one person in charge of major projects, and instituting a better planning process that results in more realistic budgets.
2. The City Council should urge the MTA and NYC DOT to start planning for and soliciting feedback on specific bus improvements that need to happen in advance of a congestion pricing program, especially new service in the outer boroughs where subway service and connections to Manhattan are lacking. The City Council can play a crucial role here by convening and facilitating these conversations with their communities.
3. The City Council could improve FixNYC by promoting dynamic pricing – which would increase or decrease the charge in response to traffic conditions – and extending the program to other heavily congested neighborhoods across the city.
4. The City Council should call on the MTA and NYC DOT to begin the environmental review and planning studies which will be necessary to implement congestion pricing and evaluate alternatives. This will take several years to complete, so it should begin immediately.