Transit leaders in the northeast hope that with Joe Biden having won the presidential election, public transit agencies and transit projects will get a much needed boost of support at the federal level.
They’re hoping that with the Trump administration soon in the rearview, several big projects languishing in purgatory will now be revived and moved forward. Those projects include everything from extending the 2nd Avenue subway further uptown, to building a new tunnel and rehabbing the existing 100-year old one under the Hudson River as part of the Gateway project. The tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey is the busiest in the nation.
While Biden is seen as friendlier to New York and New Jersey, and both states have Democrats as Governors, transportation experts warn his current infrastructure plan doesn’t address the dire situation currently facing the subways and commuter trains.
The MTA is at a critical juncture due to a massive loss of revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and has asked the federal government for $12 billion to cover losses through next year. There’s no indication that congress will be passing another round of relief aid, or that if it does, it will include the amount of money the MTA needs to avoid a 40 percent cut in subway and bus service, and thousands of job losses.
“We’re hopeful a new administration will deliver on these critical priorities of national importance and act urgently to stave off these devastating cuts no one wants to have to make,” MTA spokesperson Abbey Collins wrote in a statement.
But Nicole Gelinas, a senior researcher at the Manhattan Institute, worries that with so many municipalities around the country also in need of federal relief to cover operating losses, for the foreseeable future, the MTA may not receive enough aid to prevent draconian cuts.
“I don’t think we can be complacent or think that there’s a guarantee that the MTA is going to get what it needs in terms of operating aid,” Gelinas said.
She points out the Biden transition documents only briefly mention public transit, and only in terms of what it would build, not how it would maintain and fund existing transit agencies that are suffering right now. Among Biden’s priorities is creating “high-quality, zero-emissions public transportation options” for cities with more than 100,000 residents.
Nick Sifuentes, Executive Director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, thinks the MTA isn't in the clear yet either. He fears Senate Republicans will push to pass a “skinny stimulus” bill before Biden takes office, and that it wouldn’t include the full $12 billion the MTA says it needs.
“That means the top priority for Senate leadership in the lame duck session and post-inauguration is getting $12 billion in federal funds to the MTA and $1.2 billion to NJ Transit to prevent a death spiral of fare increases and service cuts,” Sifuentes wrote. “Senator Schumer and our city’s highest ranking House member Hakeem Jeffries have been strong advocates for transit funding, as has House Member Espaillat, our sole NYC member on the T&I Committee. We are counting on them to push this over the finish line and have indications that transit funding remains a top priority in their negotiations.”
Budget watchdog Rachael Fauss with Reinvent Albany has another concern. She could envision a scenario in which the MTA does get some sort of bailout next year, depending on who controls the Senate, and Governor Cuomo might then divert dedicated MTA tax revenue to other needs in the state, which is also seeking $30 billion in federal relief aid.
“We don’t want to see a situation where the MTA gets the emergency aid it needs and borrows from the fed, but then the state turns around and doesn’t give it the aid it promised it, essentially making up for its (the state’s) own shortfalls with the MTA’s dedicated taxes,” Fauss said. “There’s reason to hope that won’t happen with a Biden administration, and New York state will get the support it needs.
A spokesperson for the New York State Division of the Budget wouldn't confirm whether this scenario would happen, but notes that the state is expecting a nearly $63 billion revenue loss over four years.
“The State funds schools, hospitals, police and fire departments, transit, and services for the most vulnerable and, in the absence of federal funding, anywhere we don’t reduce spending will mean deeper reductions in another,” Freeman Klopott, spokesperson for the New York State Division of the Budget, wrote in a statement.
While there is concern about the day-to-day operations of trains and subways, there is a rosier picture for large infrastructure projects such as the Gateway tunnels. Leaders of Gateway are very optimistic that President-elect Biden, a regular Amtrak rider, will throw the full weight of the federal government behind the Hudson tunnel project.
“President-elect Biden has prioritized infrastructure and the Hudson Tunnel project specifically, which is good news,” Stephen Sigmund, a spokesperson for the Gateway Development Corporation, wrote in a statement. “And the right investment for any administration is to partner with us to build Gateway – providing tens of thousands of jobs, improving reliability and capacity, and protecting 20% of the nation's GDP from a potential closure of a vital link to the nation's economic heart.”
Tom Wright, President and CEO of the Regional Plan Association, agrees Gateway will likely be a top infrastructure project in a Biden administration, but he also believes it will be different than the last time Biden was in the White House.
“We expect the Gateway Project to be at the front of the list, but we also think that they’re going to be looking at not just moving specific projects, but the way we deliver infrastructure, the way we engage the private sector in doing it, the way we plan for it, the way we think about what it can do for other priority issues like the climate and carbon reduction, like equity and social justice, and access to jobs,” Wright said. “I think there’s going to be an attraction of the best and brightest on infrastructure to this administration.”
