transportation
Whether you are commuting to work or traveling for leisure, transportation is a major aspect of our daily lives. Disparities in transportation related issues can adversely impact black urban spaces. Despite the challenges, new solutions are invigorating hope.
NYC Congestion Pricing: Could the MTA have done more to curb negative public opinion?
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) launched its Congestion Pricing Program aimed to relieve traffic in downtown and midtown Manhattan with toll revenue allocated to regional transit investments. A Siena College Poll found nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers opposed the Congestion Pricing Plan. Could the MTA have done more to curb negative public opinion? Here are Blackandurban’s key takeaways on how the MTA could have ]improved the public’s perception of New York State’s Traffic Mobility Act, which has set the stage for Congestion Pricing:
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) launched its Congestion Pricing Program aimed to relieve traffic in downtown and midtown Manhattan with toll revenue allocated to regional transit investments. The new variable pricing plan would charge passenger vehicles and trucks to access anywhere south of 60th Street, up to $9 during peak hours, with increases taking effect in 2028 at $12, and in 2031 at $15. Therefore, all vehicles crossing the East River bridges are now subject to the congestion pricing charge. The MTA offers discounts, tax credits and exemptions to some drivers entering the congestion zone. In 2019, after the State of New York passed the Traffic Mobility Act, the Regional Plan Association released the most comprehensive report on the impacts and opportunities of NYC’s Congestion Pricing Plan. Transit and transportation planners understand the benefits of the program generating $1 billion annually to fund major capital investments. But the program has been off to a rocky road since those benefits are lost in translation to the general public, in which there is little support.
The complexity of the pricing plan and elusive investments doesn’t help with positive public perception for the congestion pricing program. Even if only a mere two percent of the working poor would potentially pay a congestion charge, the name of the new program leaves the public to perceive it as a commuter tax, with little focus on its benefits – potential transit investments. The implementation of congestion pricing in New York continues to be unfavorable during a time when New York City was crowned the most expensive city in the world, while salary and wages remain near stagnant, and regional transportation and transit agencies continue to raise fares and tolling fees. New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit) increased fares by 15% on July 1, 2024; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has approved a fare increase for PATH trains, raising the cost of a ride by 25 cents to $3, effective January 12, 2025; Port Authority announced that new toll rates will go into effect starting Sunday, Jan. 5. The toll to enter New York via the Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the George Washington, Bayonne and Goethals bridges, and the Outerbridge crossing will increase $0.68. and there is speculation the MTA intends to increase fare prices to $3 later in 2025. Whether it is bad timing or high transportation costs, the Traffic Mobility Law: Congestion Pricing has been unfavorable to commuting New Yorkers outside the congestion zone, because of the perception of an increased high cost of living, with little return in value.
In fact, by April, 2024, a Siena College Poll found nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers opposed the Congestion Pricing Plan. The good news, commuters will eventually adjust, the bad news, the program, and the unknown Traffic Mobility Law behind it, is starting off as widely unpopular, with multiple litigation battles.
Could the MTA have done more to curb negative public opinion? Here are Blackandurban’s key takeaways on how the MTA could have improved the public’s perception of New York State’s Traffic Mobility Act, which has set the stage for Congestion Pricing:
1. Bad Figure of Speech = Bad Publicity
The terminology “Congestion Pricing” is a synecdoche for New York’s “Traffic Mobility Act”, which was passed by New York State legislature in 2019. This means Congestion Pricing is one aspect of the Traffic Mobility Law, but the term has been publicly used to describe the entirety of the law. This may have been the MTA’s largest shortcoming to such a transformative policy, in which the public has deduced to a new toll – a tax.
2. The Traffic Mobility Act has potential to be as Influential as Mexico’s Mobility and Road Safety Law
“The Traffic Mobility Act”, as it stands, is a good start, but has the potential to be more comprehensive. As it stands, it is elusive, and hard for the public to digest. Semantics is important when it comes to public policy. For the public, the terminology of the law, could have been broader and more legible for public consumption to encompass the goals of the Traffic Mobility Act, such as implementing congestion pricing, reduce roadway congestion, and increase funding for transit mobility and accessibility. Perhaps the next step would be to complement the State’s roadway safety laws for a comprehensive approach to transit and roadway mobility and safety. (Blackandurban’s subsequent piece will illustrate how Mexico was able to pass legislation encompassing both roadway and transit safety and mobility via: Mexico’s Mobility and Road Safety Law. A different name of the law, such as: “Safe Roads, Transit Mobility and Congestion Mitigation Law” could have won more of the public’s favor.
3. Conduct a Robust Public Education Campaign and Marketing Initiative around a Broader Safe Roads, Transit Mobility and Congestion Mitigation Law
The Traffic Mobility Act, required “A testing period of at least 30 days and a public information campaign of at least 60 days prior to the operation date”. In 2023, the MTA had therefore conducted four hearings, virtual and in-person, where the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposed plan and suggest amendments before a final vote in the spring. The times and dates were as followed:
a. Thursday, Feb. 29, at 6:00 p.m.
b. Friday, March 1, at 10:00 a.m.
c. Monday, March 4, at 10:00 a.m.
d. Monday, March 4, at 6:00 p.m.
The hearings were held on the 20th floor of 2 Broadway in Manhattan in which there was also a Zoom option.
This may have been the MTA’s second largest shortfall. Although, a public comment period via Board hearing is typically required to receive input regarding implementing public policies of this nature, the Law, and MTA failed to educate the public on the benefits, procedure and jurisdictions involved in the congestion pricing plan. From the start, the focus of the Traffic Mobility Law: Congestion Pricing was centered on the congestion zone, with very little marketing and engagement with residents and business owners outside the congestion zone. An actual robust public information or education campaign, should have positively portray a more extensive “Safe Roads, Transit Mobility and Congestion Mitigation Law”, with context-sensitive transit investments, and surface transportation projects linked to the City’s Vision Zero Initiative, in each community. The marketing should include: a slew of digital media advertisements, including social media, and television ads; newspaper ads; meetings with community leaders; and engaging residents at pop-ups, outside the congestion zone.
The focus of the public education campaign should have centered around New York City’s outer boroughs, suburban communities, including New Jersey and Connecticut communities. There was no intentional educational outreach conducted to these communities that would increase their buy-in about the law.
4. Implement Transit and Bicycle Improvements Prior to Starting Congestion Pricing
The RPA recommends implementing transit and bicycle improvements prior to starting congestion pricing. Although MTA and NYCDOT has always been committed to upgrading road and transit infrastructure, with MTA typically citing budget constraints, both micromobility and transit investments leading up to Congestion Pricing were simply not enough. In addition, major investments in transit deserts with low- and moderate-income households, outside of the congestion zone, throughout the city and region, should have been tied to a broader Safe Roads, Transit Mobility and Congestion Mitigation Law. London has implemented congestion pricing, but with an already robust transit network that could accommodate its 15 million population.
5. Adopt Specific Objectives and Metrics
Again, the RPA has it right, by recommending to adopt specific objectives and metrics to meet traffic, environmental, and health goals and ensure that benefits are equitably shared, and just as importantly, to make those goals public, and “metrics and monitoring should measure neighborhood impacts, and transit improvements should prioritize neighborhoods with fewer transit options, lower household incomes, and disproportionate pollution impacts.”
6. Substantial Revenue should be Allocated to New Jersey Transit and Port Authority’s PATH
New Jersey leaders should have had a seat of the table from the beginning of congestion pricing meetings, and congestion pricing revenue allocations and infrastructure investments to NJ Transit and PATH should have been made to the public, and early to gain public buy-in. Northern New Jersey contributes 25% of Metropolitan NYC’s GDP, second after the New York City municipal boundary, which contributes 49% of the region’s GDP, and The number of people commuting to New York City from northern New Jersey grew 62% from 276,000 in 1990 to 447,000 in 2022.
“Singapore, which first first pioneered Congestion Pricing in 1975, and European cities thereafter, are not burdened by its negative consequences, as American cities are, in the context of reparative planning. Therefore its easier and less controversial to implement Congestion Pricing in European cities in a more fair and equitable manner. New York City’s pluralism, with its historically unjust land use and transportation practices, should justify a unique approach, and thus, think outside the box, and expand the Congestion Zone in New York. ”
7. How do Black and Brown Communities Perceive the Traffic Mobility Law: Congestion Pricing
Courtesy of NYC Regional Planning Office
Drastic population shifts of Black/African American and Latino ethnic groups from the city’s center, (including within the congestion pricing zone) to the suburbs in the past decade illustrates the two phenomenon affecting their communities: gentrification and displacement. According to a New York Post poll, 72% of Black New Yorkers oppose the congestion pricing toll. The toll is also opposed by: 62% of Latinos. While only 10% of Black and Brown commuters drive into Manhattan, Traumatic events such as gentrification - where wealthier residents are relocating to a neighborhood in which goods and services therefore increases with the stress of potential displacement – its reasonable for Black and Brown groups to be weary of the Traffic Mobility Act – Congestion Pricing public transit benefits. Historically, Black and Brown communities have been underserved by government’s capital investments, adding to the distrust in the civic system. Many Black and Brown residents believe agencies only start to invest in their communities after an influx of white residents relocate.
Black and Brown groups may view the new Traffic Mobility Law and Congestion Pricing to be an additional tax, (whether they take public transit or drive into the city), with little or no benefits to their communities. This is where specific and intentional and thoughtful marketing and public education campaigns, and outreach could have helped with the program’s public perception in communities outside the zone, and specifically in Black and Brown communities experiencing gentrification and on the verge of displacement.
Unfortunately, there are adverse effects to the Traffic Mobility Act’s Congestion Pricing, in 2023, the Black Institute released a scathing report, calling out the adverse effects of congestion pricing to Black and Brown communities within the city, Just Call it a Black and Brown Toll: An Analysis of the MTA’S Proposed Congestion Pricing Plan, in which they wrote “…the anticipated rise of air pollution in the Bronx and Harlem, corresponding to an expected rise in traffic as commuters seek to avoid congestion tolls. These are neighborhoods that house an overwhelming majority of Black and brown residents, who will suffer the economic and environmental effects of increased pollution.” In 2022, the South Bronx Unite published the concerns of the South Bronx community: “the Cross Bronx Expressway would experience more traffic – potentially upward of 700 extra trucks a day – under all of the seven scenarios of congestion pricing studied by researchers, according to a report released by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and being shared with communities. And the highway and borough could face more pollution, too.”
8. To Be Fair, The Congestion Zone Should be Expanded
The Cross Bronx Expressway near Jerome Avenue, Bronx, NY. File photo/Adrian Childress & Courtesy of AMNY
According to FHWA’s National List of Major Freight Highway Bottlenecks and Congested Corridors Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Freight Mobility Trends: Truck Hours of Delay, 2019, 3 out of the top 10 most congested interstate highways in the United States are located in New York City, with the most congested being the Cross-Bronx Expressway.
Singapore, which first first pioneered Congestion Pricing in 1975, and European cities thereafter, are not burdened by its negative consequences, as American cities are, in the context of reparative planning. Therefore its easier and less controversial to implement Congestion Pricing in European cities in a more fair and equitable manner. New York City’s pluralism, with its historically unjust land use and transportation practices, should justify a unique approach, and thus, think outside the box, and expand the Congestion Zone in New York. In fact, the Mayor of London is supportive of expanding their congestion zone, “although there are no plans to extend the boundary of the central London Congestion Charge Zone. Proposal 21 of the draft Transport Strategy sets out that Transport for London would support boroughs that wished to introduce local traffic reduction measures, including, for example, local congestion charges.
9. The Traffic Mobility Act Should have A Focus on Safety and an Emphasis on Subway Expansion
Courtesy of MTA - Interborough Express - System Map - Brooklyn/Queens
If you’ve lived in New York City in the 80s to the early 2000s, the recent media coverage of subway system probably doesn’t startle you. In this case, bad publicity is not good publicity. To ensure adequate ridership, it’s important for MTA’s customers to have a high perceived level of safety. Investments from the Traffic Mobility Law should allocate funding to social service and health programs to assist homeless and the mentally ill who dwell in the subway’s trains and stations.
Although the MTA has cited funding allocations from the Traffic Mobility Law: Congestion Pricing Program to capital expansion projects such as the Interborough Express linking a new light rail between Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and Jackson Heights, Queens; and continuing phase 2 of the send avenue subway extension into Harlem, Manhattan. But with $1 billion annual allocations to the MTA, more subway expansion projects should have been noted, especially in rail-scare parts of the city such as Queens, perhaps extending a subway line to LaGuardia Airport.
Courtesy of MTA - Interborough Express - Station Rendering - Brooklyn/Queens
Transit Policing: Is it Necessary? The Making of America's Police-State Capitol
Co-Author: Kyle Williams
Last month, New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced it will hire 500 new transit police officers to resolve the “quality of life” issues in NYC subway system. These 500 new cops will assist the NYPD Transit Bureau. The Bureau is responsible for the safety and security of MTA’s passengers, initiated by contract with the MTA under Mayor Guliani. This might sound like a policy straight out of the infamous Batman trilogy, however, it is becoming a stark reality for the victims of the MTA police: the homeless and “fare-beaters”, of which, the police appear to target primarily people of color.
New Yorkers and concerned citizens throughout the country are outraged at the policies enacted by Governor Cuomo. Last week, police officers were seen brawling with what appears to be high school students at the Jay-Street Metro-Tech Station’s platform in Downtown Brooklyn. Adding insult to injury; MTA transit cops were then seen ambushing a young Black man (who allegedly evaded the subway system’s $2.75 fare) with guns. Many people are describing his arrest as alarming.
Last weekend, hundreds of New Yorkers took to the streets to protest the subway system’s police-state policy. They are asking leaders like Mayor DeBlasio and Governor Cuomo to reverse the policy. Despite the appearance of police harassment, people are also taking to social media to question the MTA’s policy on camera installations at turn styles.
Fare-Free System
Other transit agencies like Buffalo, New York operate a light rail system with a free-fare zone and in September 2018, Dunkirk, France officials have launched a free bus system. The landlocked country of Luxembourg, adjacent to Belgium and Germany, is looking to implement a nation-wide free transit system in 2020.
The question of a fare-free MTA system seems far-fetched; especially since the organization is projected to operate in a deficit through 2021.
However, although MTA’s 2019-2022 budget suggests that there’s a loss in revenue due to fare-evasion, the budget does not disclose its monetary loss. In fact, MTA includes fare-evasion with a wide range of other impacts to revenue loss, such as “planned subway service changes to accommodate construction and maintenance/repair work and increases in telecommuting and the use of e-commerce have all impacted utilization levels.”
The bigger question for now remains whether investments into transit cops to fight fare-evasions is even worth-while. The starting salary for an MTA Police officer is $42,000. Upon completing 7 years of service the top pay is $100,368. A cost-benefit analysis is not necessary to determine, the efforts to stop fare-evaders is costly, time-consuming, and raises discrimination and aggressive policing concerns.
“Enough Money to Hire Cops, and Install Cameras, but not Enough to Fix a Failing Transit System.”
We are at a time where capital investments into the City’s subway system are critical, and such costly efforts into fare-evading remains futile for fixing the MTA. Protests in Chile have received world attention due to the government announcing a hike in transit fares. Some conservatives and police allies do not agree with the recent protests in NYC, calling it unwarranted.
Furthermore, important questions remain. Why did MTA choose transit policing as an expensive solution to avoid a budget deficit? What can we do as fellow citizens to resolve the issue of persistent and overly aggressive victimization by police force for what seems to be a trivial crime? Should the MTA consider an overall system-wide free fare? Please let us know in the comments.
Does Race matter when giving up your seat to someone on public transit?
+ T R A N S P O R T A T I O N
Does Race matter when giving up your seat to someone on public transit?
Byron A. Nicholas, AICP - July 28, 2018
The City of New York is known for its diversity by socio-economic status, age and of course race. One can find a myriad of different dialects, accents and languages during the duration of a single subway ride. Much of the city’s recent population boom and increase in mixed neighborhood demographics can be attributed to the Bloomberg administration’s rezoning policy that has spurred housing development in low income minority neighborhoods. This mixture of people now contributes to unique encounters between different races, particularly Black and White, in public spaces including public transit. As a daily workday commuter, conscious of the racial climate throughout the country and the cultural changes in New York, I constantly ask myself “are people of color, particularly African Americans, treated differently when it comes to comfort and courtesy on the city's buses and trains?” Let us take a look to see how mainstream stereotypes affect the way African Americans are perceived on the city's mass transit system and how greater cultural acceptance can be achieved for all cultures within NYC’s public transit system.
During my workday commute on the E train in Queens, I frequently ponder how other African-American commuters are perceived by White commuters. I also wonder if other African-Americans are as race-conscious as I am on the City’s bus and trains. For example, am I perceived to be a robber or thug depending on my clothes because I fit a depiction created and perpetuated by corporate news media? African Americans are constantly prejudged in various places including school and work, as the hit HBO TV series Insecure portrays, but often too, we are branded by strangers in public settings. This may suggest underlying micro-aggressions leading to feelings of insecurity, inferiority and inadequacy. In the article, Racial Micro-aggressions in Everyday Life, the writers, Derald Wing Sue, Cristina M. Capodilupo, et al., explain that racial micro-aggressions are “subtle, stunning, often automatic, non-verbal, exchanges which are ‘put downs.’ The article continues to explain racial micro-aggressions as “subtle insults, verbal/non-verbal, and/or visual directed toward people of color, often automatically or unconsciously.” Therefore, the snubs, tightly clutched handbags, dismissive looks, shifty eyes, and gestures are usually dismissed as normal behavior by White commuters, but can be harmful to the victims which are usually people of color.
Upon observation, depending on circumstances, it seems as though some African Americans may constantly try to uphold their existence as a person of color in the presence of White commuters while others may engage in feelings of inferiority to compromise their comfort for that of white commuters.
The Perception of Crime and its Effects on Black Commuters
In my opinion, there is no doubt that the media's perception of young black individuals plays a role in the generalization of young African Americans on public transportation. The deaths of Tamir Rice (12) and Michael Brown (18) are examples of how police officers react in fear when encountering African American children. The American media portrays little boys and girls of color as hyper aggressive. This perception perpetuates the idea that African-American boys and girls are more violent and more mature for their age than their white counterparts. The critically acclaimed Netflix documentary "13th" directed by Ava DuVernay does a brilliant job explaining the chronological events of how African-Americans, particularly black men were perceived as ultra-sexual, aggressive and dangerous from the antebellum years to contemporary time.
The greatest example of this is the story of Emmitt Till, a 14 year old African-American boy, murdered in 1955 in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a White woman, although decades later Carolyn confessed that her testimony was fabricated. We all hear about people of color followed by store clerks and law enforcement, and many stories of women clutching their handbags when around African Americans on city trains and buses. If this is due to crime rates in African-American communities it does not give one the right to generalize and prejudge a person based on statistics about an entire race. Unfortunately, this generalization comes with consequences on public transit systems where a white person may have a racial preference when choosing to sit next to African Americans or in extreme cases White commuters’ faces filled with disgust for sitting in proximity to some African American commuters, or in extreme cases.
Does Race matter when giving up your seat to someone on public transit?
New Yorkers rely on the city's vast public transit system not only to commute to school or work, but as an alternative for drunk driving, and to run daily errands, especially for mothers who may need to transport their kids to and from school, doctor visits or simply for leisure purposes such as trips to a park or a museum. I have seen White, African American and Latina women of all socio-economic backgrounds on the city's trains and buses. But are these women with their children treated differently based on their race/ethnicity? Do commuters perceive the health, welfare and safety of a white child to be more concerning than that of an African American child? The answer to this question based on my observations is yes; African American and Latina mothers and children seem to be less likely offered a seat than white mothers by their fellow commuters. Similarly, MIC News reported on a study by Portland State University and the University of Arizona, which has found that African-American pedestrians face worse treatment than White pedestrians, including 32% longer wait times by drivers while walking in crosswalks. This reverts back to the issue of subconscious racism.
I have also observed on many occasions that African Americans were quicker to give up their seats to white women and their children than to those of other minorities, almost as though the latter were an afterthought. It almost reminds me of "Driving Ms. Daisy", where some African-Americans have been programmed to provide service to White Americans during the country’s Jim Crow era. This erroneous stereotype feeds into other false stereotypes such as African Americans being genetically stronger than their white peers; further perpetuating the false perception that African American mothers and children are able to stand longer without discomfort.
Education and Awareness is Key!
Although federal regulations such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the American's with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has tremendously aided the safety and welfare of public transit commuters throughout the country, education and awareness combatting racial prejudices is often left to American values. Prior to social media platforms, African Americans and other minority ethnic groups relied on a few mediums such as magazines and TV shows to affirm their culture and identity in society, particularly in public spaces. Now, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter allow platforms for people of color to help eliminate the stereotypes and the double consciousness that may contribute to minority’s discomfort in public spaces including public transit.
NYC's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has lead a strong gender neutral campaign and can do the same for racial tolerance. Here is where the MTA’s Diversity Committee and the State of New York have the opportunity to promote racial and ethnic inclusiveness and acceptance on transit by celebrating the cultural diversity of passengers through advertisements and announcements. An MTA educational campaign has the potential to inform patrons that it's okay to look different while riding public transit with the goal to reduce racially induced biases and prejudices. Click here to leave a comment on MTA's Customer Support Team application to hold the agency accountable to increase ethnic inclusiveness. (In the MTA Service drop-down box click MTA Corporate Office -Suggestions- and Policies, Rules and Regulations.) Don't forget to leave a comment suggesting that the MTA make a racial and ethnic inclusive campaign comprised of announcements and advertisements for zero-tolerance of racial micro-aggressions and stereotypes, which has no place in our subways and society.
If you live outside the New York City region you can lobby your local transit authority to enact similar diversity campaigns.
So the next time you ride alongside someone with differences in skin color, language, or religious wear - i.e, a hijab, a kippah, a kufi or a turban – just remember that you and them are just simple additions to the unique cultural fabric of New York City and/or the United States of America.