Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Governor Andrew Cuomo applaud the $320 million cut to the MTA payroll tax. Photo: Governor's Office

Looking back on 2011, there was a lot more bad news for New York City transit riders than good news. The Straphangers Campaign released its annual list of the ten best and worst events for subway and bus riders, and topping the “worst of” list are three separate ways that Governor Andrew Cuomo has attacked transit funding.

The news for transit riders wasn’t all bad. Straphangers put the one-year respite from fare hikes at the top of their list (a brief reprieve — the next one is scheduled for 2012). Other highlights include the launch of Select Bus Service on 34th Street, the launch of real-time bus tracking along some routes, and the reopening of the Cortlandt Street R station.

But those improvements and small kindnesses like the launch of the MTA’s 511 phone number or its Weekender site design can’t hold a candle to Cuomo’s $100 million raid on the MTA’s dedicated funding, his $320 million cut to the dedicated MTA payroll tax, or his nonchalant willingness to put three years of the MTA’s capital plan on a giant credit card, which transit riders will be paying off for decades to come. As Straphangers noted, trains and buses are being left in service long after they should have been sent into retirement and breakdowns are increasing.

Here are Straphangers’ two top ten lists in full:

Among the top ten worst New York City transit events in 2011 were:

1. The State swept a net $100 million from dedicated transit operating funds. For the second year in a row, State government diverted money from accounts created to fund mass transit. The cuts add pressure to hike fares and cut service. Legislation to make it harder to raid dedicated transit funds passed both houses of the State legislature, but then was watered down.

2. The NY State Legislature voted exemptions to the MTA payroll tax at an unknown cost to its riders. As The New York Times editorialized:  “Although the Albany leaders say that the state will make up any lost revenue, they have not determined a secure source of financing. Mr. Cuomo needs to make certain that the already cash-starved transportation authority doesn’t suffer. The last thing New York needs is to downgrade the system that gets so many people to and from their jobs.”

3. MTA proposed to take on $7 billion of debt for capital projects. With little hope of new funds, the MTA is proposing more borrowing to pay for its key rebuilding program. The result: half a billion in added interest payments a year, fueling pressure for higher fares to pay it back.

4. Aged trains on C line will now remain in service through at least 2017. They will be 53 years old, well past the tenure envisioned upon their gleaming debut during the Johnson Administration in 1964.  The reason: shortfalls in capital revenues.

5. MTA over budget and behind schedule on Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access, say federal officials.  The MTA says that ESA and Second Avenue will be done by September 2016 and December 2016, respectively, while the Federal Transit Administration puts their opening dates at April 2018 and February 2018. The feds say that ESA costs could go from $7.3 billion to $8.1 billion, Second Ave from $4.4 to $4.8 billion.  The 7 line extension – paid for in large part by New York City – is reported 11 months ahead of schedule and may open in 2013.

6.  Breakdowns increased and ridership decreased on NYC Transit buses.  The breakdown rate has worsened more than 11% and total ridership is 3%, as of September 2011. Reason given: an aging bus fleet and a December 2010 fare hike. The percent of city buses that were 12 years or older more than doubled in the past year.

7. Hurricane Irene. It could have been much worse. In stark contrast to the blizzard of late 2010, the City and MTA performed well here.  But many New Yorkers experienced what the loss of transit service meant to the city that never sleeps.

8. Garbage can-less subway stations. As part of a larger initiative to address subway garbage disposal problems, a pilot to remove garbage cans from two stations got a poor response from the public. The idea, wrote a columnist, “would seem to rank with fourth marriages…”

9.  Passenger assaults on bus drivers and subway workers are up, 20% and 16% respectively, from January to October 2011. Bus drivers were spat on by riders 145 times during the same period. Are transit officials doing enough to protect their employees? The recent shooting on the Q111 also shows the vulnerability of riders to fatal violence.

10. A tax-free transit benefit may shrink in half next year.  The program – which exempts up to $230 of wages used for transit from most taxes – was increased in 2009. Right now the parking benefit is slated to go up to $240, while the transit benefit will fall to $125 unless Congress acts.

 

Among the top ten best New York City transit events in 2011 were:

1. There was no subway, bus and commuter fare hike after three years-in-a-row of increases. The fare went up in 2008, 2009 and 2010 – but not in 2011. That was good news for cash-strapped riders in a harsh economy.  But the MTA already says it needs a higher fare by the end of 2012.

2. Faster bus service arrived on the M34.  This year, M34 passengers got to pay their fares before boarding, speeding up service on this notoriously slow route – if there’s good rider education on the new fare system.  Coming in 2012: reconfigured bus stops to eliminate buses going in and out of traffic and increase sidewalk space.

3. Some of the service cuts from 2010 were restored in 2011.  Weekend M50 bus service in midtown was re-instituted, as was the X36/38 express bus from Bay Ridge to Manhattan.  Kudos to local officials like State Senator Marty Golden and Councilman Vincent Gentile. Massive cuts remain, but these restorations are worth celebrating.

4. MTA launched Weekender site.  When you go to mta.info on Friday afternoons through Sunday evening, it becomes the Weekender, with easy-to-understand maps describing what most weekend visitors want to know: how will my commute be affected by transit construction and repair projects

5. Riders can now track the location of some bus routes by cell phone.  “Bus Time” – which allows riders to get information on the location on buses on their cell phones – started on the B63 in February.  By year’s end, it comes to all Staten Island bus routes.  It’s convenient and encourages people to use buses.

6.  In the shadow of the World Trade Center, the southbound Cortland Street station on the R re-opened.  There was a grim time after 9/11 that a plywood, handwritten sign on the Cortlandt station warned train operators, ‘DO NOT STOP HERE.”

7. MTA adopted the 511 number for one-stop telephone help. Coupled with mta.info, this has the potential of providing better customer assistance at lower cost. But it still needs to be streamlined.

8.   $1 fee on purchase of a MetroCard postponed.  Supporters say it would reduce litter. Opponents see it as a fare hike and it’s not popular. The agency will hold off until 2013. The real solution: moving to smart cards.

9. A pilot brings cell phone service to six underground subway stations. Not everyone will agree that his is a good step.  In a recent Straphangers Campaign opinion poll, riders voted 54% to 43% that this was a good idea. It’s important to note that riders for years have used cell phones at hundreds of stations above ground.  Also, cell phones still won’t work in tunnels between stations.

10. More countdown clocks appear around the subways. New York City Transit set as a goal to install these highly popular displays at 153 stations on the number 1 through six lines by December 2011. Another 24 are on the L and a simpler version is at 32 stations on lettered lines.

Bus ridership is down in Manhattan, but where Select Bus Service increased speeds on First and Second Avenue, New Yorkers are riding more than ever. Image: NYCDOT/MTA

Want to understand why more Manhattanites don’t ride the bus? Look no further than this year’s Pokey awards, given out annually by the Straphangers Campaign. Manhattan buses, as usual, top the list of the year’s slowest service.

The Pokey this year goes to the M50 crosstown bus, which averaged a mere 3.5 miles per hour at noon (imagine it at rush hour!). The 14 slowest lines are all in Manhattan, with the Bronx’s Bx19, which runs down Southern Boulevard and into Harlem, clocking in as the slowest bus in the other boroughs.

Those glacial speeds explain why Manhattan-wide, bus ridership is down five percent over last year. Some of that decline surely stems from broad economic and demographic trends, but speed clearly matters. Along First and Second Avenues, where Select Bus Service was installed and speeds rose dramatically, ridership jumped up nine percent.

The good news for New Yorkers is that the MTA remains on board with expanding Select Bus Service. “The past year established Select Bus Service as a game changer in New York, with 20 percent faster bus service now on three routes,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz told Transportation Nation’s Jim O’Grady. “We are working with the city to expand the SBS network, bringing faster boarding, dedicated bus lanes and enhanced bus lane enforcement to more and more routes.”

Photo: Sabrina Porter

The Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives have chosen the winners for their best and worst of New York City Transit photo contest. The top “Good Transit Scene” was “Break of Day ” by Sabrina Porter, while John Wehmeyer took the prize for best “Bad Transit Scene” with “”Reassuring? Not so much!”

Photo: John Wehmeyer

Porter and Wehmeyer will each receive a 30-day MetroCard. Check out honorable mentions here.

“These photos show our transit system at its best — and its worst,” said TA Executive Director Paul Steely White. “It’s time we had more of the former and less of the latter. The winning photos shine a spotlight on the real-world consequences of transit funding cuts and remind us what we stand to lose if nothing is done.”

Not to diminish Wehmeyer’s victory, but White reminds us of another transit tableau that is sure to go down in history as one of the most repulsive of all time:

Photo: Liz Benjamin

The transit photo contest held by the Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives has moved into the final round. Five finalists have been selected for the photo that most captures New York City’s transit system at its best, and five have been chosen to represent the system at its worst. You can vote for your favorite here.

The winning photographers will each receive a free monthly MetroCard, while the winning photographs will be used in an ad campaign making the case for better transit, so choose carefully.

Not to influence your vote or anything, but I voted for the two photographs above. In the “best of transit” category, I thought this shot of light streaming onto a subway was just beautifully composed, though the image of three boys showing off for the camera best represents my favorite moments on the train. In the “worst of,” I had to vote for the picture of sludge piled up at the Canal Street station; that station is right next to Streetsblog HQ, so that pick was personal. Let us know in comments which you voted for.

Be sure to check out the full photo galleries as well. Some of the best photos in each category didn’t make it into the final round at all, and they’re well worth a look.

This gorgeous photograph of the Beverley Road subway station in full bloom, brought to our attention by Brownstoner, somehow manages to make peeling paint look beautiful. Photo: flatbushnelson via Flickr

We often describe the importance of transit in numbers, like the fact that 54 percent of New York City households don’t even own a car. But even the most convincing stats can get a little dry. To help capture what the subways and buses mean to a city where the transit system is the closest thing to a shared experience for eight million people, the Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives are launching a photography contest. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.

The contest will feature two categories: the things we love about transit — only-in-New York juxtapositions, for instance, or the system’s speed and ease — and the problems that make us fed up with the MTA. The winners will be featured in an ad campaign intended to make the case for better transit, said Straphangers Campaign Coordinator Cate Contino, while photos showing specific problems, like the mysterious dripping at certain subway stations or the shuttered bus stop a community once depended on, will be sent along to the MTA in the hopes of resolving the issues.

“We know that the MTA has been forced to make some really tough choices,” said Contino, explaining the goal of the ‘bad transit scene’ category. “We want to capture these declines that we’re seeing mostly anecdotally.”

The winners will each receive a 30-day unlimited MetroCard. To enter, submit your photos at straphangers.org by June 10.

Without new financial help from Albany soon, the MTA says its current bad finances may mean another fare hike in 2010.

That would make it three years in a row for fare increases -- March 2008, June 2009 and early 2010 -- the worst record in the MTA's 40-plus year history.

It demonstrates a trend of shifting the costs of operating transit from some beneficiaries of the subways and buses -- such as motorists and businesses -- onto riders.  For example, the riders' share of operating costs for the subways will go from 69% to an astonishing 84%, according to the MTA, if the just-approved fare increases are implemented.

Under the plan proposed by former MTA chairman Richard Ravitch, no new fare hike would occur before 2011.

Meanwhile, the excuses for inaction are pouring in. GOP State Senator Marty Golden, a Brooklyn rep who never broke ranks to support the Ravitch plan, sent around a press release blaming the state's top Democrats for "closing the doors completely to Republicans." Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos excused his party's monolithic opposition to the transit rescue effort in much the same way, and added that the MTA was asking for a "blank check" by seeking to fund its five-year capital program. As Liz Benjamin notes, that's exactly what the Fare Hike Four and Senate Dems have been saying.

It's a patently false claim. Any plan is subject to oversight and approval by the Capital Program Review Board. The leaders of the State Senate and the Assembly each appoint one voting member to the CPRB, as do the mayor and the governor. Any of the four voting members can veto the whole thing. Said Russianoff: "If they appropriated the money, they would still have power over how it's spent."

Yesterday the coalition sent this letter [PDF] to every member of the state legislature. Notably, three of the state's biggest unions -- the AFL-CIO, Service Employees International, and United Federation of Teachers -- have signed on. These labor groups were not part of the coalition that fought for congestion pricing last year, but on this issue, they are firmly on board. On this issue, they're united with the same business leaders whom they're fighting against when it comes to the proposed millionaire's tax. Unlike the State Senate, these leaders grasp the implications of sharply hiking fares while drastically cutting service. They don't want to risk the region's future by letting the transit system fall apart. They do want a plan that provides a long-term answer, and that includes bridge tolls. Here's their full letter:

Dear Legislator:

We represent the citizens of New York who depend upon a safe, clean and reliable public transportation system. We represent the working class New Yorkers -- many of whom do not own automobiles -- who depend upon an affordable public transportation system to get to their jobs, to their schools and to their health care providers. We represent the employers of the region that recognize that a well functioning subway, bus and commuter rail network is the prerequisite for continued economic growth and is what sets New York apart from the rest of the country. We represent the hard-working building trades and construction workers responsible for New York’s skyline that are dependent upon public sector projects to put food on the table during these hard times. And we represent those that care about reducing the asthma rates of children in disproportionately impacted communities throughout the city and about making this city a whole lot greener, more equitable and a little bit more livable.

We represent your constituents, and we are calling on you to act and adopt a comprehensive, long term funding plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It must be a plan that provides for affordable fares, expanded service and long term capital investment. And it must be adopted now -- before the Authority is forced to raise fares and tolls by as much as 30 percent, while at the same time drastically reducing service across the system.

The New York Legislature has had long enough to act. This issue is no surprise to those that have been paying attention. Almost a year ago, Governor Paterson called on Richard Ravitch to head a Commission to review options for comprehensively addressing the MTA’s operating and capital funding needs. This Commission represented business, labor, environmental advocates and everyday straphangers. And the proposal that the Commission put forward has the broad-based support of all of these constituencies -- your constituencies. It is a proposal that is fair, balanced and comprehensive. It relies on transit riders, motorists and the employers that benefit from the system to all participate in the solution for saving the system.

Once again, we are calling for bipartisan action to respond to the needs of New Yorkers and prevent a backsliding into the kind of neglect and disinvestment in our transportation system that marked earlier decades and nearly crippled New York. With funding for the MTA in place, we can move on to confront the other innumerable challenges that our state faces in this time.

We stand united in our commitment to working with you and your colleagues towards a solution to this crisis. We respectfully request a meeting with you in the coming days.

Sincerely,

Denis Hughes
President
New York State AFL-CIO

Gary LaBarbera
President
Building & Construction Trades Council

Mike Fishman
President
32BJ, Service Employees International Union

Randi Weingarten
President
United Federation of Teachers

Kathryn Wylde
President & CEO
Partnership for New York City

Richard T. Anderson
President
New York Building Congress

William C. Rudin
Chairman
Association for a Better New York

Dick Dadey
Executive Director
Citizens Union

Nancy Ploeger
President
Manhattan Chamber of Commerce

Gene Russianoff
Senior Attorney
Straphangers Campaign

Kevin Corbett
Co-Chair
Empire State Transportation Alliance

Kate Slevin
Executive Director
Tri-State Transportation Campaign

David Jones
President & CEO
Community Service Society of New York

Pratt Center for Community
Development

Fifth Avenue Committee

The POINT CDC

Erasmus Neighborhood Federation

Morningside Heights/West Harlem Sanitation Coalition

Smith's latest gambit -- calling the MTA's March 25 deadline into question -- carries a lot of risk. "The deadline seems real to us," said Russianoff, noting that there may be some wiggle room, but not much. "The concern would be if the legislators say, 'We can wait a while.' That's a recipe for inaction."

There's been some speculation that the Ravitch proposals might get folded into the state budget, but that would face similar political hurdles to a stand-alone rescue package. All 30 Republican state senators are expected to vote against the budget, said Russianoff, meaning Democrats will have to vote as a single, 32-member bloc to gain passage.

If the Gang of Three and other Democratic obstructionists fail to realize that their constituents need a well-funded transit system much more than free bridges, there is a potential solution that might garner support from elements of both parties. "One thing with promise is to do the highway and bridge program at the same time as MTA financing," said Russianoff. "That gives Republican senators a reason to vote positively on the bill." The state's highway and bridge program faces its own funding shortfall, and like the MTA, it needs new revenue streams. Some of the bridge toll alternatives that pols are floating -- such as higher gas taxes and vehicle registration fees -- make more political sense as revenue for a road program, because, Russianoff says, "the highway people think it's theirs."

Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign (l) and TA's Paul Steely White unveil this year's honorees

Two Manhattan bus routes took home awards for slowest and least reliable service in the 2008 Pokey and Schleppie Awards, issued today by the Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives.

The Pokey went to the M96 crosstown, which clocked an average speed of 3.7 m.p.h. as measured at noon on a weekday -- .7 m.p.h. faster than the average human walking speed, but slower than a walking elephant or running chicken, according to Straphangers and TA.

The 2008 Schleppie, meanwhile, belongs to the M101/2/3 3rd/Lexington/Amsterdam/Lenox Avenue bus from Upper to Lower Manhattan, for bunching and gaps in service. 

"Riders know from bitter daily experience that it can often be faster to walk than to take the bus," said the Straphangers' Gene Russianoff. "Or hop on board a strolling elephant."

While bemoaning the current state of service on many routes, the groups hold out hope for the future, pointing to new and planned Select Bus Service routes.

The first SBS routes have started on Pelham Parkway and Fordham Road in the Bronx (Bx12) and on 34th Street in Manhattan (M34). SBS routes are planned for Nostrand Avenue (B44), First and Second Avenues in Manhattan (M15) and Hylan Boulevard on Staten Island (S79).

Given current conditions on 34th Street, we humbly suggest two new awards for future consideration: Time-wasting Trucker and Officer Obstacle. And maybe a special lifetime award for those with an apparent abiding grudge against bus riders? Call it The Meanie.

Click here for award methodology, and follow the jump for a complete list of Pokey and Schleppie nominees. 

Slowest bus routes:

• B63: 4.9 m.p.h., Between Bay Ridge and Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
• Bx19: 5.3 m.p.h., Between Botanic Garden in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan
• M96: 3.7 m.p.h., Crosstown on 96th Street in Manhattan
• Q56: 6.1 m.p.h., Between Jamaica, Queens and East New York, Brooklyn
• S42: 11.4 m.p.h., Between New Brighton and St. George Ferry Terminal

Most unreliable bus routes with the greatest bunching together or big gaps in service:

• B44: 24.0% unreliable, Between Sheepshead Bay and Williamsburg on Nostrand Avenue
• Bx41: 20.7% unreliable, Between Wakefield and the Hub on White Plains Rd/Webster Avenue
• M101/2/3: 26.1% unreliable, Between Upper and Lower Manhattan on 3rd/Lexington/Amsterdam/Lenox Avenues
• S74: 22.1% unreliable, Between Ferry Terminal and Tottenville on Richmond/Arthur Kill Rds

With the MTA staring at a $17 billion hole in its next capital plan, pricing or new tolls may well be on the table, but the crystal ball is very cloudy at this point. Many variables are still in play. It's not clear yet, for instance, when the Ravitch panel will make its final recommendations, what form the proposal will take, or even who else will serve with him.

Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said a likely scenario would be for the Ravitch panel to release its recommendations after the elections this fall. In a brief phone interview yesterday, he speculated that a pricing variant, if proposed, would be one of multiple options the panel presents. "They’re going to have to come up with a menu," he said, "because if they put all their eggs in one basket it’s going to be difficult."

Another likely recommendation would involve raising all of the existing taxes that finance the MTA.

The panel may also release its recommendations in two parts. An early recommendation could propose stop-gap measures to fix holes in the current capital plan (which is coming unglued as a result of the economic slowdown and rising construction costs), and a later one would focus on the next plan.

Russianoff took it as a good sign that Paterson selected Ravitch, who initiated the MTA's first five-year capital plan in 1982, to lead the panel. "They’re not papering things over," he said. "It’s a serious attempt."

But all that is known for certain so far is what the governor said when he announced the creation of the panel: 

Basically, I want the commission to examine three basic issues. One is how to balance the subsidizing of the MTA Capital Plan, through the subscription of those who use the services and a broad balance of taxes for businesses and the rest of the public.

Secondly, what we want to look at are the elements of Mayor Bloomberg’s plan that all of us like, and that perhaps we can still weave them into the process.

And finally, we have to get the MTA out of its habit, which is 25 years old, of refinancing and basically covering debt with excessive borrowing.

Streetsblog: Without pricing, how will the MTA get funded?
Russianoff: They currently have a proposed $29.5B capital plan. The vast majority is for stuff that absolutely has to be done -- rehabbing 44 stations, buying buses, signal and track work, and so on. There is a $9B projected deficit plus $4.5B that will not be coming from pricing bonds, plus $4B that won't be coming in additional city and state money that was promised if pricing passed.

"Traditionally the MTA has raised funds from broad-based taxes -- corporate income tax, mortgage recording tax, real estate transaction tax, sales tax, gas tax -- and through fares and tolls. With tolls, excess from upkeep of bridges and tunnels is given to the MTA, and a large chunk of that is used for capital projects. Now [without pricing], we can do what [former MTA chief Peter] Kalikow said five years ago and increase all of them a little bit."

But these are all subject to fluctuation, as we're seeing now with the dip in real estate tax revenues, which had previously allowed the MTA to run surpluses.

"So one solution is the traditional one, which is to raise one or more of those taxes." Richard Brodsky has said relying on a broad-based tax is what he prefers.

Streetsblog: What about this millionaire's tax proposal?
Russianoff: "Doesn't seem like it's going to pass this time around. Senate Republicans have rejected it. Bottom line is they'll have to come up with the money from somewhere."

Streetsblog: What about Fidler's payroll tax?
Russianoff: "In the 25 years I've followed transit, just about every kind of tax has been proposed."

In 1984, the Democrats proposed a version of the payroll tax to support the MTA. Republicans didn't want it, so they proposed the corporate income tax, which passed. They put in a sunset clause, so now it comes up for renewal every few years. Legislators use it to "extract their pound of flesh from the MTA" -- i.e. the threat of lowering the rate or not renewing the tax is used as leverage to get projects they want.

Together at last: Pre-congestion pricing short-term transit enhancements and MTA capital projects in one map! The graphic comes courtesy of the Regional Plan Association, which made the map for an insert touting pricing [PDF] placed in the Legislative Gazette this Monday by Environmental Defense, TWU Local 100, and the Straphangers Campaign. This is what's at stake in Monday's City Council vote.

The Staten Island Advance reports on Monday's press conference outlining the qualities that leading City Council members would like to see in the next DOT Commissioner. The Bloomberg Administration responded to the Council with the following statement:

The Mayor will appoint a commissioner who will carry out policies to meet the sustainability challenges he outlined in his '2030' speech and will continue [outgoing DOT] Commissioner Weinshall's work reducing pedestrian fatalities and increasing safety for all New Yorkers through the implementation of innovative programs like Thru Streets.

The Advance also notes: 

Bloomberg, who with Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden pushed through the unprecedented bans on smoking and trans fats, should take that same intrepid approach with the next transportation commissioner, said Gene Russianoff, attorney with the Straphangers Campaign.

Meanwhile, a source inside DOT Commissioner Weinshall's office says that Deputy Commissioner for Traffic Operations Michael Primeggia, who is often credited by Weinshall as the architect of DOT's Thru Streets program, is "being considered" for the commissioner's job.

You've already weighed in on what you'd like to see in the next DOT commissioner. Now members of the City Council and Transportation Alternatives have weighed in too, with a press conference yesterday highlighting qualities they would like to see in the city's next Transportation Commissioner. Here is Council Member Yassky's press release.

Council Member David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) and transportation advocates today urged the Bloomberg Administration to appoint a new Department of Transportation commissioner with the credentials and experience to tackle the traffic congestion and pollution problems that are plaguing New Yorkers.

"This City has been fortunate to have such a hard-working DOT commissioner in Iris Weinshall for the past five years," Council Member Yassky said. "But now that she is moving on, we must look toward the next five years and beyond and choose a commissioner who will tackle our quickly increasing environmental and transportation challenges. Our next transportation commissioner will be making decisions that will effect the health, business and general quality of life of all New Yorkers, make sure she or he makes the right ones."

Council Members and advocates called on the Mayor to meet his 2030 PLANYC sustainability goals by appointing a DOT commissioner with a mandate to reduce automobile traffic while improving surface transit, walking and bicycling options.

"There is so much a transportation commissioner could do to improve the quality of life of New Yorkers by reducing traffic and encouraging transit use," said Gene Russianoff, senior attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign. "We need a dynamic leader - like Commissioner Thomas Frieden has been in the area of health - to improve air quality and neighborhood life by taming city traffic."

"Commissioner Weinshall has steered the Department for many years and her shoes will be hard to fill," said Council Member John C. Liu, Chairperson of the Transportation Committee. "New Yorkers need a Transportation Commissioner who can get up to speed quickly and also change the internal inertia that sometimes dampens innovation, especially if we are to truly create a system for the free flow of people and goods in the City."

"It is crucial the Administration selects a new Department of Transportation commissioner who will make pollution, traffic congestion and parking issues a priority," said Council Member Bill de Blasio. "The next commissioner will play a vital role in making sure the City reaches its future goals of increasing and improving our transportation alternatives."

Co-chairs

• Elliot Sander, director of NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, VP at MTA contractor DMJM Harris and former city Dept. of Transporation commisioner. (Rumored to an MTA chairman candidate)
• Mary Ann Crotty, former transportation advisor for Mario Cuomo.

Members

• Janette Sadik-Kahn, VP at Parsons Brinckerhoff (Big MTA contractor leading the Partnership for NYC's congestion pricing study)
• Gene Russianoff, Straphangers Campaign (the MTA's best critic)
• Jon Orcutt, president of the Tri State Transportation Campaign (another tough MTA critic and big thinker on regional transport issues)
• Ernest Tollerson, VP at Partnership for NYC (Working on the Partnership's congestion pricing study)
• Mitch Palley, MTA board member from Suffolk (often the lone dissenting voice with votig power on the board and big supporter of the third rail project for the LIRR)
• Susan Kupferman, president MTA Bridges and Tunnels (Rumored candidate for MTA executive director)
• Robert Yaro, president of Regional Plan Association

Other Members

• James Conigliaro, Machinists
• Sam Williams, UAW 9A
• Garry Labarbera, president Teamsters Local 282
• Jack Aherne, International Union of Operating Engineers
• Chris Ward, managing director of the General Contractors Association (Ports, shipping and environment expert)
• Sonia Toledo, managing director Merrill Lynch
• Jamie Mercado, partner at Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett
• Edward Malloy, president of Buildings and Construction Trades Council
• Eva Lerner Lamb, presidents of Palisades Consulting
• Doreen Frasca, president of Frasca & Associates
• John Egan, president of Renaissance Corp.
• Binta Brown, Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore
• Samara Barend, director of STV Inc. (Engineering firm that did the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel study)

Russianoff generated one of the nicer soundbites to come out of yesterday's Citywide Coalition for Traffic Relief rally in this interview with Stan Brooks of 1010 WINS. You can listen to it online but here's the gist of it:

Traffic is really an urban health issue. It's about our lungs, our ears, our sensibilities walking down the street and this is a mayor who has really done a lot to make the city healthier. There's a long way to go and a key way [to make the city healthier] is to tame traffic. This is a walking city, a beautiful city and a city that gives far too much priority to cars driven by individuals and not enough to people on bikes, in buses or pedestrians.

Brooks summarizes: "He says the Mayor has tackled cigarettes and transfats and cigarettes, why not go after traffic?"

The bus routes cited by the Straphangers' report as the slowest in the city, along with many others, operate in conditions of severe traffic congestion. Slow and unreliable bus service is very much a product of the city's vibrancy. Some routes must negotiate narrow streets while others serve heavily-traveled shopping areas. Some major routes even run past bridge and tunnel approaches, which are prone to traffic back-ups.

So, here's a question: Which urban environment looks more vibrant to you? This typical Columbus Circle rush hour scene...

Or this picture of a Friday afternoon rush hour that I snapped a couple of weeks ago on Copenhagen's inner city pedestrian street, The Stroget...

Columbus Circle photo by Hidden City on Flickr

The 14th Street crosstown bus wins this year's Pokey Award for being New York City's slowest bus line. This morning Straphangers' Campaign and Transportation Alternatives handed the Golden Snail to the M14A for making its 12 noon trek across town at an average speed of 3.9 miles per hour.

Manhattan's M1 bus, running along Fifth and Madison Avenues from Harlem to the East Village, came away with the golden question mark for being the city's "Most Unreliable" bus line. More than a quarter of M1 buses bunch up and arrive at bus stops far off schedule.