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A Transit Transfusion October 27, 2005 Like any structures begun over a century ago, the pieces of New York's aging transportation system desperately need updating. Most commuters know this already. When a fire destroyed one 70-year-old signal room in New York City's antique subway, it nearly rerouted thousands of riders for years. People taking trains or buses to work have dealt with regular, sudden breakdowns and disruptions, often explained on intercoms that cannot be understood in any language. Bridges and overpasses across the state also need work, and some highways are so patched and ragged that the only people enjoying the ride are those selling shock absorbers. Any voter who has complained about bumpy commuting in recent years now has a decent option: to vote for Proposition 2 on the Nov. 8 ballot. That proposal, the Renew and Rebuild New York transportation bond issue, would pay for $2.9 billion in structural improvements over the next five years in a fiscally responsible way. The bond issue would allow the state to borrow half of that money for bridges and highways upstate, and the other half for the whole complex transportation structure downstate. For New York City, it would mean $60 million for new subway cars and $90 million for new buses. Money would also be available to enhance tunnel lighting, to replace tracks and to set up a better system for tracking and regulating buses. The money would finally launch the first new subway routes since World War II: the Second Avenue subway and East Side access from Long Island to Grand Central. Critics of this bond issue note that a recent surplus will allow the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to give riders a lower rate for the holidays, and they point to New York State's mounting debt. But the surplus appears to be a one-time bonus that should help with one-time costs, not the renovation of an old system. As for state debt, most of it is the wrong kind, debt contracted on the sly by the quasi-public authorities that don't have to play by the state rules. This bond issue is straightforward: a request to the voters, as the law requires. Such "front door" debt comes at a better rate, which ultimately costs the state and its taxpayers less money. If the bond issue fails, look for worse news for anybody who uses the roads or the rails in this state. Somebody will have to pay to keep things running, and more bad debt is one solution. Or commuters can face even higher fare increases even sooner than the ones planned for 2007. The far better choice is to vote yes on Proposition 2. _____________________________________________________________ |
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