Relatively modest fair hikes, in places where fares previously did and did not exist, and a regional mobility tax are a part of the plan to rescue the Metropolitan Transportation Agency from further debt.
"The plan - presented in a 19-page report [pdf] - would permit automatic, inflation-adjusted fare and toll increases every two years without public hearings, ending what [Commission on Metropolitan Transportation Authority Financing leader Richard] Ravitch called a cyclical "political circus." The plan would allow for a state takeover of the city-owned Harlem River and East River bridges, which have historically been free to drivers. The new tolls would be collected electronically, without toll booths.
The regional mobility tax - 33 cents on every $100 of payroll - would provide $1.5 billion a year, and the tolls would produce $600 million in net revenue a year ($1 billion a year in gross revenue minus expenses), Mr. Ravitch said. The new revenue streams would help finance borrowing for a $30 billion-to-$35 billion M.T.A. capital plan for 2010 to 2014 that would help stimulate the economy while maintaining vital infrastructure.
'This is a major stimulus bill to New York State,' Mr. Ravitch said at a morning news conference at the governor's office in Midtown Manhattan. 'The number of projects being canceled and terminated as a result of inadequate financing,' he said, is 'adding enormously to all the other problems this financial crisis has imposed on everybody.'"
FULL STORY: Ravitch Unveils M.T.A. Rescue Plan
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
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Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
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Brightline West Breaks Ground
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Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
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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.