The MTA's $15 Billion Question: With Trump Almost Gone, When Will Congestion Pricing Begin?

The MTA conservatively estimates congestion pricing may start in 2023. [View this email in your browser]( The MTA's $15 Billion Question: With Trump Almost Gone, When Will Congestion Pricing Begin? Plus: A sinkhole ate a taxi, undocumented immigrants can apply for New York state driver's licenses, subway cars were completely tagged over the weekend, New Yorkers are protesting the MTA's proposed fare hikes, five MTA employees are accused of defrauding the agency, and the Verrazzano Bridge was an exciting place to be during Monday's wind storm. By Annie Todd STEPHEN LOVEKIN/SHUTTERSTOCK December 2020 could have been the month the MTA [embarked on a congestion pricing plan]( that would generate $15 billion, reduce carbon emissions and pollution, and shore up the future of subway and bus service in New York City. Instead, with subway and bus ridership at historic lows, the transit agency is reeling from a devastating, $12 billion pandemic-induced deficit. The MTA's suffering is unique: The agency [has promised]( to lay off more than 9,000 employees and cut service by 40% if Congress doesn't provide $12 billion in emergency pandemic relief by the end of 2020. The agency is also borrowing $3 billion from an emergency federal government fund that will incur interest, adding to the MTA's arrears—[16% of the budget currently goes to servicing debt](. Congestion pricing [was supposed to inject $1 billion a year into the MTA]( could then be used to raise $15 billion in bonds—by tolling drivers into Manhattan below 60th Street. When the proposal finally passed in the spring of 2019, New York lawmakers thought they had given themselves enough political cushion [by decreeing]( that the details on the actual tolls could not be announced until after election day 2020, or "no later than December thirty-first, two thousand twenty, or no later than 30 days before a central business district tolling program is initiated, whichever is later." The plan itself would be announced after the election, by a "Traffic Mobility Review Board" appointed by the governor and the mayor, and the tolling would start up in January of 2021. But for over a year, the Trump administration has blocked the project, by refusing to tell the MTA what kind of environmental review they need to perform. The review itself could take up to a year, and would come before any formal federal approval of the project. Even with a much friendlier Biden administration—which could waive the environmental review altogether, [something Foye has suggested]( tolling scheme seems mired in bureaucracy. A [recent MTA disclosure form]( states that the implementation of congestion pricing "could be delayed until 2023." Asked why their disclosure form estimated 2023 as a start date, the MTA insisted that they were trying to be conservative. “The MTA is still pushing for the $12 billion we need in additional emergency federal funding to avoid having to enact a series of draconian service and employee cuts, toll and fare hikes, and a continued freeze of our capital plan," said Ken Lovett, the MTA spokesperson. "While we’re more hopeful the Central Business District Tolling Program will move forward under a Biden administration, we continue to await clarity from the feds on what type of environmental review will be required that will help determine when the program will be enacted.” [—Reporting by C]( Robbins]( "We Knew This Could Happen": Giant Sinkhole Devours Unoccupied Taxi In Queens COURTESY OF COUNCILMEMBER ROBERT HOLDEN An unoccupied taxi plunged into an enormous sinkhole early Thanksgiving morning in Maspeth, Queens, to the shock of onlookers. Passersby spotted the vehicle, an orange Toyota Rav4 with TLC plates, around 6 a.m. at 70th Street between 52nd and 53rd Avenues. They included Queens Councilmember Robert Holden, who snapped a few photos of the car tipped over inside the sinkhole. "We knew this could happen because the [70th Street sewer project]( was well underway," Holden told Gothamist/WNYC, referencing a massive project that began in August. Thupten Topjy, the vehicle owner, described the turn of events as a shocking surprise. He told WNBC-TV on Thursday that he felt "very lucky" since he typically begins his shift around the time the car plummeted into the hole. Holden said city officials recently held a meeting about the project, in which one homeowner said that the type of boring happening underneath the roadway—a strategy intended to prevent the city from digging up the entire roadway—would lead to these kinds of sinkholes. "The contractor did say they would monitor, and then hopefully it wouldn't happen. But obviously it did," Holden said. Large sinkholes are a rare occurrence across the city, but have been known to happen from time to time. Last month, a [33-year-old man suffered injuries after falling]( 12 to 15 feet into a rat-infested sinkhole that buckled in a sidewalk on Third Avenue near 183rd Street in the Belmont section of the Bronx, according to fire and police officials. He's now [suing the city]( for failing to inspect the sidewalk. [—Read David Cruz's story on Gothamist]( Here's What Else Is Happening Undocumented immigrants have the right to seek driver's licenses, according to a federal court. A federal court has upheld New York’s law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driver's licenses against a lawsuit brought by an upstate county clerk who claimed the law would make him personally liable for violating U.S. immigration policy. “The Green Light law is legal and enforceable, and today’s decision marks the third federal court to dismiss challenges brought seeking to enjoin the law,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Monday. "This law provides protections to all New Yorkers by making our roads safer, growing our economy, and allowing immigrants to come out of the shadows to sign up as legal drivers in our state." ([Gothamist]( Dozens of subway cars were tagged over the weekend. The subway graffiti taggers hit 24 trains along the 1, 6, M, G and Q lines as well as on the 42nd Shuttle. One M train was decorated in drawings from Alice in Wonderland including the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter. An underground subway explorer who uses the alias Bad Guy Joe told The City that it normally takes about two to three hours for taggers to paint a single train car and the artistic display over the weekend with multiple painted cars shows the taggers' confidence is growing. ([The City]( Politicians and New Yorkers from all sides lambast the MTA for fare hikes. During the first round of public hearings on fare hikes Tuesday night, New Yorkers and politicians from both sides agreed that increasing MTA fares and tolls would only hurt the people the agency is trying to serve. Republican Representative-elect Nicole Malliotakis said the toll discount for Staten Islanders using the Verrazzano Bridge should continue, while Democratic state Senator Todd Kaminsky said riders couldn't afford an increase in the $2.75 fare. ([The New York Post]( Five MTA employees have been charged in an overtime fraud scheme. The five men, four of whom work for the Long Island Railroad, gained over $1 million in overtime pay when they weren't on the job and were known as the highest-paid MTA employees, according to federal prosecutors. They submitted falsified timecards for hundreds of hours of overtime and "frequently volunteered" for overtime shifts even though they were on vacation or at the bowling alley, prosecutors said. ([Newsday]( See why the Verrazzano Bridge was closed Monday during the wind storm. In a video posted to Twitter, you can see the bridge swaying and braying in the wind. It's perfectly normal for the suspension bridge is acting in this way—this is how they're supposed to respond in extreme conditions, as opposed to more rigid structures. The bridge first banned all empty trucks and tractor-trailer vehicles around 10 a.m. Monday, and closed the upper level around the same time. Then just after 2 p.m., the lower level was closed; it had a staggered reopening starting a little over an hour later. ([Gothamist]( Best Places To Cry On Public Transport Weekend Service Changes: Night of December 4th – Early Morning on December 7th. This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. Note: The entire subway system is closed each night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice. World Trade Center-bound trains run express from Roosevelt Av to 21-Queensbridge station. trains replace the between 21 St-Queensbridge and Delancey St/Essex St. trains will replace trains in Brooklyn. trains run between New Lot Av and 148 St. trains will not run between Bowling Green and New Lots Av. trains will not run between Parkchester and Pelhman Bay Park. Coney Island-bound trains run via from 36-St to Stillwell Av. Coney Island-bound trains run express from Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr to 36 St in Brooklyn. trains replace trains between Queens Plaza and World Trade Center. No trains between Church Av and Stillwell Av. Coney Island-bound trains run express between Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr to 59 St. Astoria-bound trains run express from Kings Hwy to 59 St. Astoria-bound trains run via the from Atlantic Av to Canal St. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. Annie Todd thinks watching the Verrazzano Bridge disappear into the ether isn't too surprising for 2020. (Photo by Jacob Kaye) Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential transportation coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. 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