In this Q&A, urban planning professor Mitchell Moss explains how budget crises at the federal, state and local levels will affect transit funding in New York City and other places.
Moss looks at a future of uncertain funding, but also new ideas for creating sustainable funding sources for transportation.
"The Shoshin Project: What does this environment mean for transportation policy?
Mitchell Moss: Transportation in New York is vital to our economic strength. We are able to bring hundreds of thousands of people in per day by commuter rail, by subway, by bus. In other words, we have an extremely sophisticated mass transit system. That system is dependent upon the fare box, upon revenues from the city and from the state, and one of the great challenges is to maintain that system in good repair. And that's very expensive. I think we have to appreciate that declining revenues from real estate transactions have severely hurt the MTA.
That means three things. We're seeing cutbacks in service, we've seen increases in fares, and we're seeing the need to find new sources of capital, whether that's tolls or different revenue streams, or that can be through private financing. But we're going to have to be more creative in gaining either revenue or productivity out of either the workforce or out of new technologies."
FULL STORY: Mitchell Moss: We've Got To Get Creative On Transit Funding
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Coming Soon to Ohio: The Largest Agrivoltaic Farm in the US
The ambitious 6,000-acre project will combine an 800-watt solar farm with crop and livestock production.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
California Grid Runs on 100% Renewable Energy for Over 9 Hours
The state’s energy grid was entirely powered by clean energy for some portion of the day on 37 out of the last 45 days.
New Forecasting Tool Aims to Reduce Heat-Related Deaths
Two federal agencies launched a new, easy-to-use, color-coded heat warning system that combines meteorological and medical risk factors.
AI Traffic Management Comes to Dallas-Fort Worth
Several Texas cities are using an AI-powered platform called NoTraffic to help manage traffic signals to increase safety and improve traffic flow.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.