Spotlight Vol. 7, No. 22: Ravitch to the Rescue

It has been said that history is biography, meaning that individuals shape the world we live in, not just larger political economic forces. 

Historians continue to debate how true this axiom is, but in the case of the revival and renewal of New York City's essential transit system a generation ago, there is no question: Richard "Dick" Ravitch played a crucial part. It was Ravitch, as chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who devised, advocated for and helped win billions in new revenue for the cash-strapped agency. It was this new revenue that helped subsequent MTA chairs Bob Kiley, and New York City Transit chair David Gunn, overhaul a system on the verge of collapse. 

Almost 30 years later, the MTA faces a new but similar fiscal crisis: a major decline in revenue due to the slowed economy, and, in consequence, the prospect of needing to make crippling service cuts at a time of record ridership, and increase fares by at least 23 percent - unless more money can be found. Although the transit system is in far better condition than it was in 1980, that could quickly change. 

And once again, the region has turned to Dick Ravitch for help. Gov. Paterson asked Ravitch and a Commission of business executives, transportation experts and civic leaders to propose strategies to close the $1.2 billion gap in the MTA's annual operating budget and provide $30 billion for the transit authority's upcoming five-year capital plan. 

Last week the Ravitch Commission proposed to fund the MTA with a three-part funding package. In addition to standard fare increases for transit users, the Commission proposed two major new sources of revenue: a mobility tax of 33 cents on every $100 in income paid for by employers for every job in the 12-county MTA region, and new tolls on the (currently free) East River and Harlem River Bridges. The main underlying principle - long supported by RPA - behind this funding package is that it is good policy to diversify the burden of funding the MTA among everyone who benefits from a functional transit system - not just transit users.  

Much of the public discussion around the Commission's recommendations, of course, has revolved around its proposed new sources of funding. First the mobility tax. RPA believes that its region-wide nature makes it an effective financing mechanism, similar to the regional payroll tax adopted in the Paris region to build and operate its RER regional transit network, to great success. Ravitch's proposed mobility tax is also a far more equitable deal than the New York Region's Commuter Tax, repealed a decade ago, that unfairly penalized a small group of suburban commuters to Manhattan. 

RPA has also long supported proposals to toll East River bridges in order to eliminate the inequities between those who have to pay to get into Manhattan because they happen to come from the West, and those who don't, because they happen to come from the East. Tolling the East River bridges has, of course, been the third rail of New York City politics for decades, and already various politicians have been "waving the bloody flag" in opposition to this portion of the Ravitch Commission's recommendations. Few people have noticed that the Commission proposed to mitigate the new tolls with massive improvements in bus service - these would precede the new tolls - in order to provide much better transit options for the residents of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx who currently drive. 

Media reports have also barely noticed that the Commission's report recommends much more than these new tolls and taxes. It institutes a number of reforms to ensure that the new money raised is well spent, and that the MTA's operating budget is far more stable than in the past. The report proposes to remove most future increases in debt service from the MTA's operating budget, a major source of the MTA's recent financial woes. It proposes to allow the MTA to implement regular, inflation-based increases in fares. The Commission also recommended a series of other promising reforms to make the MTA more accountable and hold down the costs of capital projects. 

The political prognosis for early action on the Commission's recommendations is unclear, but Governor Paterson's embrace of the Commission's recommendations and Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver's encouraging response bode well for a positive response from Albany. 

We are hardly neutral observers when it comes to Dick Ravitch - he is the longest-serving member of RPA's Board of Directors. But familiarity breeds respect. If anyone can successfully build public and political support for this initiative, it's Dick Ravitch. For more than 40 years he's been associated with political action on tough issues. His knowledge and abilities are needed and appreciated more than ever.