Streetbeat, Vol. XIII
Public transit funding, the new administration, and the sad state of bike parking.
Welcome!
This here is the first newsletter of 2021, a year that is going exactly as expected so far.
I have a few ideas planned for this monthly missive, now that I’ve notched a year’s worth of editions, a decently sized (and growing!) audience, and great reader feedback, which I’m always keen to hear. That may include Q&As with folks doing fascinating work in/on cities, or deep dives into specific issues—stay tuned! In the meantime, I’ll continue to float personal and professional endeavors, and the key topics that they confront. And yes, this will remain a newsletter on urban issues, above all else.
It’s a new year, and a new day. Now, let’s get to it:
C.R.E.A.M.
Like many transit agencies right now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)—which oversees the subway, rail, and buses of New York—is running low on cash. Its capital funds have been decimated by the drop in tax revenue, its operating funds brought to a standstill by still-sputtering usage, both casualties of a year-long pandemic. And who knows when, or even if, ridership will return to pre-pandemic levels. (Permanent changes to work-life patterns, rather than widespread fears of taking public transit ever again, seem more to blame.)
How much is it out? About $8 billion, to be exact. That’s the budget deficit even after the federal government spotted the MTA about $4 billion in early January. Another big infusion seems likely under the new Biden administration with Sen. Chuck Schumer, the first-ever New Yorker to dawn the role of Senate majority leader (and my high school commencement speaker!), placing him at the helm of stimulus talks. But still, that leaves the MTA in quite a hole.
To be clear, this isn’t just a New York problem. Transit agencies across the U.S. are in a similar bind, as is Transport for London (TfL) and a collection of other European transit agencies, which are collectively counting about $45 billion in losses. Bringing public transit back better than ever after COVID—which is integral for equity, the climate crisis, and urban economies—will be one of the biggest challenges facing cities in 2021 and beyond. But it’ll require money at a time when wallets are thin.
In New York, the good news (sorta) is that these financial woes are nothing new. In the years leading up to COVID, it was clear to anyone who witnessed its infrastructure firsthand that the MTA needed a revamp. (I covered that effort extensively for three years.) And there was a plan: Fast Forward, the brainchild of former subway/bus head Andy Byford, who’s now overseeing TfL. The only issue: nobody expected the state’s capital dollars or fare box to dry up this badly. As a result, the historic $51.5 billion capital plan, which derived from Fast Forward, is on hold—at least for the time being.
So funding ideas that were on the table then gain urgency (and, perhaps, new political willingness) in a moment of crisis like now. In January 2019, before Fast Forward was approved, I proposed five ways that the MTA could raise revenue to fix its much maligned system. It seems like a good time to rehash some of those concepts, as many of those proposals hold resonance for cities far and wide:
Road pricing. Following cities like London and Singapore, New York will soon charge cars to enter Manhattan’s central business district at rush hours. (Its implementation was delayed by the Trump administration, but with newly minted USDOT head Pete Buttigieg—as well as former NYCDOT head Polly Trottenberg and a coterie of New York City transit advocates by his side—it appears likely.) This October, London will expand its Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which penalizes old polluting cars, to cover the majority of the capitol city. Both schemes raise money for transit, benefitting the bulk of trips.
So what other road pricing schemes are out there? Can U.S. cities enact low-pollution zones around their borders? Or maybe cap entry into certain areas and charge after that? How about tolling by weight (SUVs, vans, etc.)? The sky’s the limit—and within the USDOT’s authority—but I’d say there are two prereq’s if policymakers go down this path: logically link them to a cause (air pollution; COVID recovery) for argumentative purposes; and don’t make them regressive. Without either, it’s hard to see a new revenue idea making it far in this economy.
Cameras. What if there was a quick, affordable way to not only keep streets safe of dangerous drivers and bus/bike lanes free of double-parked cars, but, also, make money for the public purse? …Well, there is! Traffic enforcement cameras often fall into a web of competing authorities, but cities should have the ability to protect their streets—and garner much-needed funds in the process. (Also consider: noise cameras.)
Pied-à-terre tax. There was endless chatter last year about the ultra-rich retreating from their lux condos in the midst of the pandemic for larger homes elsewhere. (Who now seem to be slowly returning.) In my mind, that means it’s high season to leverage that loss into an asset. A pied-à-terre tax would finally levy a surcharge on those empty towers, which would finance services for the rest of urban residents who couldn’t afford to leave (and maybe didn’t want to, either). That only seems fair, right?
Honorable mentions: Taxing legal pot; a smarter fines system for online deliveries (I don’t know if the idea of $3 surcharge on Amazon packages floating around New York is the right one); land value capture on the parking lots that surround most suburban rail stations; and, of course, good ol’ fashioned income taxes.
It’s Joe Time
Believe me—there will be plenty to write about these next few months regarding the new administration in Washington, from potential city and state aid to unprecedented climate action. (Also: uniting the country after the worst disunion since the Civil War. But who’s keeping score!) We’re already seeing that with the attention paid to the hearing of Buttigieg, who brought up issues—like ‘Complete Streets’ and transit equity—that we don’t often hear in the halls of Congress. And a new Senate bill setting aside $10 billion to a pilot program that would reconvert highways into boulevards is certainly something to watch. So many of the executive actions announced already will play out on city streets.
But today, I give the floor to my colleagues at Oxford Urbanists. The North American team (myself included) wrote up a few ideas and recommendations for what appears to be the most urban-focused Cabinet in recent history. This administration has a gargantuan task ahead of it: making urban development matter in the U.S.
Here’s where to start.
Yet another election
I have a special place in my heart for the NYC mayoral election. It’s where I got my start as a journalist, shoe-leathering the 2013 race—end of Bloomberg’s 12-year reign; subtle rise of de Blasio era—for The Wall Street Journal, The Village Voice (RIP, but not for long apparently), and other outlets. It has all the campaign drama (Anthony Weiner!) you’d want, and, also, really good trail food, which comes with the territory, of course. And, in my opinion, it is just as consequential for the lives of New Yorkers as the presidential election. (Don’t @ me.)
It goes without saying, then, that this is perhaps the most important NYC mayoral election of my lifetime, with the city’s soul—cultural, economic, racial—in tatters from a ravaging virus, after years dealing with an unfriendly White House. Broadway needs help. Public transit needs help. Small businesses need help. And it feels like there are boundless questions to answer: what does retail look like after this? What about all of those empty office buildings in Midtown? What’s next for our streets? And what if another Sandy hits?
You can imagine that I’ll be watching this one closely. Until now, the election lead-up has run largely under voters’ radars, due to *waves hand broadly at world*. But the entrance of Andrew Yang—a Bloombergian candidate in many respects, with no government experience or previous involvement in city politics—has ignited attention. So stay tuned: I’ll have more thoughts soon.
Less than five months until the June primary!
Solutions, solutions
If it’s not apparent already, I’m deeply invested in what’s known as ‘solutions journalism,’ which is reporting not just on a societal issue or challenge, but also, the mechanisms by which parties—governments, community-based organizations, average citizens—can try to come together and fix it. In a world where everything seems broken, I believe this type of journalism is more important than ever.
So I’ve long appreciated the work of Solutions Journalism Network, a newsroom nonprofit that highlights this type of work and trains journalists in putting more of it out there. The good folks at SJN have noted a number of my stories (thank you!) but recently, they went above and beyond by getting Google onboard. If you ask Google Assistant “tell me something good,” you may end up hearing about the UK’s School Streets, or how to improve the soundscape of your city.
And more is in the works! Stay tuned.
Can I park here?
I mentioned this in a recent newsletter re: the work I’m doing for Oonee, but cycling around in the suburbs has reminded me just how poor the state of bike parking is in America. It’s something the States is just very far behind on, and multimodal trips, as I noted on a recent journey with Amtrak, are even worse. Coming from London, where a curbside hangar was a few feet from my doorsteps, it’s been a brutal reawakening. (Just look at these new ‘mobility corrals’!)
But it’s a matter of priority. Bike parking, as a cohesive Transportation Alternatives report and great coverage in The New York Times laid out this month, is totally overshadowed by car parking; in fact, there are 1.5 parking space for every car in New York, yet 1 parking space for every 116 bikes. And we know it matters: when polled, the majority of cyclists report they’ve had a bike stolen (I’ve had three!), and many don’t bike more—or even pick up the habit—out of this very fear. Unsafe bike parking, as seen above, is a visual reminder that stays with us. So fixing bike parking is integral to boosting this form of active travel. It’s also remarkably popular.
But what’s fascinating about bike parking is that innovations are all around us. A small nugget I learned from that TransAlt report is that old coin muni-meters were turned into bike stalls years ago, turning an outdated piece of infrastructure into a new form of space. While it’s still relatively insecure, it gives us a sense of where this space can come from if we think outside of the box a bit.
Last order of business
A little less of my own work to report from this month, as I attend to personal and professional housekeeping. My partner and I are in the midst of our third apartment move (thankfully, out of choice) during a global pandemic, now headed back to Astoria, Queens. My new class pairing cities with journalism at NYU has started. And good news: I’m officially a regular monthly contributor with Bloomberg CityLab, and have a few recovery-focused policy projects underway with Center for an Urban Future, where I’ll be returning as a fellow.
So, in short: this will be a year.
Visual of the month
Words of wisdom
See you in February!