NYS Mass Transit Authority(MTA) decisions impact all of NYS
By NY State Senator Jeremy Cooney,
The MTA’s board recently confirmed Governor Hochul’s indefinite pause on congestion pricing—guaranteeing that much-needed capital projects will be put on hold without an alternative revenue source to finance the 2020-2024 capital plan. Plans to buy new electric buses, safer trains and a long overdue plan to make more stations accessible to people with disabilities now stand in jeopardy. Much attention has been paid to the impact this decision will have on daily passengers in New York City, but when we look at congestion pricing it is important to note that every corner of our state will be impacted if the MTA does not have adequate funding to move forward with their capital plan.
A recent study estimated that close to 100,000 New York jobs are at risk statewide as a result of the pause. These aren’t just statistics, these are people’s livelihoods.
Companies, like Alstom, which helped build half of the MTA’s current subway fleet, are embedded into the fabric of upstate communities. Alstom alone has over 1,500 employees across facilities in Hornell, Plattsburgh and in Greater Rochester. The Town of Hornell has a total population around 8,000, with 600 employees working at the local facility. With congestion pricing providing an estimated $15 billion for the MTA’s capital plan, Alstom was potentially in line to build new subway cars and subcomponents. Now the MTA is putting projects on hold and these local jobs are at risk. A representative from Alstom said it best that “congestion pricing is essential to supporting good-paying construction jobs downstate and manufacturing jobs upstate.”
But it’s not just one upstate company, there is also Knorr-Bremse, which owns New York Air Brake in Watertown. They manufacture brake components for MTA trains and are involved in a project to implement new platform screen doors. This work is vital for the safety and efficiency of MTA’s operations. Without a fully funded capital plan, 35 jobs in Watertown are now at risk. The same is true for Kawasaki Rail Car in Yonkers, a company that rehabilitates and tests the safety of rail cars. Kawasaki received over $1.6 million from contracts with the MTA between 2014 and 2023, contracts that have contributed to local hiring. There is also BAE Systems, located right outside Binghamton. BAE employs 1,200 local workers and in the past has supplied electric buses to the MTA’s fleet. They, too, were in a prime position to benefit from the MTA’s capital plan.
These are just a few examples of the ecosystem that supports the MTA statewide. From Western New York and the Southern Tier, to the North Country and the Hudson Valley, every region in our state is affected by the decision to pause congestion pricing. In fact, “every New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut congressional district has at least one company paid by the MTA, as do 100% of New York State senate districts.” So when we discuss the ramifications of this decision, we cannot view this as an issue isolated to one part of our state. All New Yorkers, and our statewide economy depend on a strong MTA capital program.
As chairman of the NYS Senate Transportation Committee, I’m calling on Governor Hochul to implement a 100-day plan to identify a way to fully fund the MTA’s capital plan. The time for debating the merits of congestion pricing has passed, what is most important is keeping our promise to the passengers and workers impacted across the state. The Governor should convene finance, industry, labor, and passenger representatives to thoughtfully recommend either an alternative method of financing the capital program or a version of the congestion pricing plan we already had in place. Regardless of which of these options we choose, it’s clear that we can’t keep the MTA waiting until the next state budget or beyond. We urgently must commit to a funding solution that will better the daily lives of all New Yorkers.
Jeremy Cooney represents the 56th District in the New York State Senate and serves as Chairman of the Transportation Committee.
