As a New Yorker who relies on mass transit and well-maintained roads and bridges, I write to ask you to support and cosponsor Assembly Bill A09633, to enact the Move NY Fair Plan.
The Move NY Fair Plan Act is the fairest and most sustainable proposal on the table to expand and maintain mass transit in the New York metropolitan area. Beyond providing a sustainable funding source for the MTA's capital needs that will eliminate the need for even steeper fare and toll hikes, A09633 will create a $4.5 billion Transit Gap Investment Fund, our city's first opportunity in decades to extend the mass transit network to underserved communities, which, together with their elected representatives, will have a hand in setting project priorities.
Moreover, A09633 will provide relief to commuters in the city's outer neighborhoods, providing fare relief on intracity commuter rail and Express Buses through the expansion of CityTicket and the implementation of Freedom Ticket, as well as free out of station transfers between key subway lines in the most transit starved areas. A09633 also creates the city's first dedicated revenue stream for roads and bridges, allowing the city to make critical repairs to major infrastructure such as the East River Bridges and major arteries like the Brooklyn-Queens and Van Wyck Expressways.
To fund these critical investments and programs, A09633 provides a fair solution: a toll swap that offers major, permanent toll relief on the city's outer bridges and reduces congestion in the region's economic core. By slashing congestion, increasing mobility and investing heavily in infrastructure, A09633 will boost the regional economy, creating more than 30,000 new, local, annually recurring jobs in the process.
With subway ridership at a 65-year high, finding a sustainable funding solution -- that is equitable for all New Yorkers -- is critical to keeping New York's economy and people moving. NYS Comptroller di Napoli has warned that for every $1 billion in new fare- and tolled backed debt, New Yorkers will see a 1% increase in tolls and fares. This is be on top of the 4% biennial fare and toll hikes already baked into the system. We need a more sustainable way of investing in our region's transit, and we need to expand the transportation network according to the priorities of our communities.
There's a strong appetite for transportation reform. I hope you will lead us into a promising future by backing and helping to enact A09633.
I look forward to hearing where you stand on this critical issue.
Sincerely,