The MTA knows that unreliable overnight subway and bus service is failing New Yorkers with late-shift jobs. To fix the problem, the agency wants to partner with its arch-rivals in the ride-sharing business.
On Tuesday, newly-appointed Chief Innovation Officer Mark Dowd announced that he's seeking proposals from companies offering "shared-mobility services" (read: Uber and Lyft) to partner on a new "Late-Shift" pilot.
The program will provide subsidized e-hail rides to outer-borough residents living more than half a mile from the nearest subway station, whose off-hour commutes force them to contend with infrequent subway and bus service.
“With increasing numbers of people moving away from the traditional 9-5 Manhattan-centric work schedule, we want the MTA to evolve to best support New York’s continually diversifying economy,” Dowd said in a statement.
“We are seeking to leverage new mobility technologies to enable more New Yorkers to benefit from the public transportation network during the overnight hours, and to enhance the experience of overnight subway customers in low-cost ways."
But elected officials and transit advocates raised immediate concerns about the proposal, calling it a misguided attempt to address a real problem. Several noted that the plan will ultimately profit the very companies explicitly aiming to take down public transportation, and questioned why the money wouldn't be better spent directly on late-night transit.
“I’ve long said we need to change our transit network to support the growing number of New Yorkers who don’t travel into Manhattan on the old 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. schedule, but putting people in cabs so they can wait for trains and buses that hardly ever show up during off-peak hours is not the answer," said NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer.
A better solution, he continued, would be opening up the commuter rail system, allowing residents in places like the Bronx and Eastern Queens to access rides on the LIRR and the Metro-North for the cost of a MetroCard swipe.
Other advocates voiced frustration that the MTA is willing to fund this proposal over its ongoing borough-by-borough bus network redesign. The controversial bus plans are "revenue-neutral," meaning bus service won't increase for riders — at night or otherwise.
"There are obviously choices to be made and this seems like an odd choice," said Jon Orcutt, a former DOT official now handling communications for Bike New York. "Do we need to be essentially subsidizing taxi trips in New York out of the transit budget?"
There's also the fear that the arrangement will lead to service cuts on overnight buses and subways. In recent years, municipal governments across the country have struck similar deals with Uber and Lyft to provide subsidized rides in place of surface-transit.
"There's been small cottage industry around trying this and no real evidence of success," noted Orcutt.
Nights and weekend service is already expected to worsen as construction associated with the $51.5 billion capital plan takes hold. The proposal also comes at a time when the MTA is facing down a billion dollar budget gap, forcing cuts to programs like Access-A-Ride, a widely popular, if imperfect, service that allows New Yorkers with disabilities to book a car or van trip at a subsidized price.
"It seems ironic that the MTA is seek to contract with some on-demand cab service while cutting back the ability of New Yorkers to get around using the most successful paratransit system we've had here," said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson for the Riders Alliance.
"It's important to meet the needs of late-shift workers," Pearlstein added. "But there are other ways of leveraging the existing transit system to meet the needs of New Yorkers."
