What Biden's $2 Trillion Plan Means For Your Commute

Plus: Amtrak to everywhere?! [View this email in your browser]( What Biden's $2 Trillion Infrastructure Proposal Means For Us Plus: Surveillance cameras in the subway system aren't deterring crime. Bronx residents could get a discount for short Metro-North trips. And Amtrak drew up an exciting fantasy route map. By James Ramsay [the Gateway tunnel] Gov. Cuomo's Office Buried in the [American Jobs Plan]( President Joe Biden's $2 trillion proposal for infrastructure and clean energy upgrades, is something that should be of particular interest to the tri-state area: a $25 billion "dedicated fund to support ambitious projects that have tangible benefits to the regional or national economy but are too large or complex for existing funding programs." Gateway, the project to restore and expand the Sandy-damaged Amtrak tunnel under the Hudson River, is an ambitious project that seems to have been too large or complex for existing funding programs. And with a total expected price of $30 billion — $12 billion for the tunnel work itself, $18 billion for added platforms at Penn Station — it could use as much as of that federal funding as it can get. "Gateway is a project of national significance for a region of the country that generates one-fifth of the entire U.S. economy and must be completed without further delay," said New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez. "It will provide New Jersey commuters with safer and more reliable service and is the type of smart infrastructure investment that will pay for itself several times over in economic growth." Then there's the MTA's $51.5 billion capital improvement plan, which could certainly use support from the Biden infrastructure package to fund, among other things, the expansion of the 2nd Avenue subway to 125th Street; more elevators at subway stations; a project allowing LIRR trains to pull into Grand Central; and subway cars [with doors that work](. Despite [histories of cost overruns]( and delays on transit projects in the region, experts say both the MTA and Amtrak have used the pandemic to streamline things and improve how they hire contractors and carry out projects. "Today these agencies are in a much better place, and much better able to handle that level of funding and use it wisely," said Tom Wright, the president of the Regional Plan Association. In all, the American Jobs Plan includes $621 billion for transit projects over the next eight years. The first step, of course, is getting Congress to pass it. — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( The MTA's Surveillance Cameras Have Done Little To Reduce Crime [a close-up of a surveillance camera in a subway station]( Mark Lennihan/AP/Shutterstock The MTA installed 784 new surveillance cameras in the subway system last year — three times as many as in 2019 — bringing the total number of cameras to more than 8,000. And yet, burglaries, murders, and rapes all increased last year, while the felonies that did decrease didn't drop at levels in keeping with the overall plunge in ridership during the pandemic. One takeaway: Surveillance cameras alone aren't a significant crime deterrent, nor are they particularly effective at helping the police stop crime as it's happening. "These are not cameras that are necessarily feeding information real-time, these are cameras that we can then go back to if an incident occurs in the system," said NYC Transit interim chief Sarah Feinberg. She said that while surveillance cameras have helped the police catch certain perpetrators after the fact, the MTA still wants to add to the police presence in subway stations. "I would like to see a uniformed presence in every station, frankly on every platform," said Feinberg. "We’re at a critical moment where people have to come back into the system and they have to feel like they’re safe." — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( Here's What Else Is Happening The MTA is restoring full service on the F and C lines. Under pandemic-induced service reductions, NYC Transit was running 36 fewer F train trips and 5 fewer C train trips per day. After public outcry — and a lawsuit by the transit workers' union, which was concerned about the reduction in shifts — the MTA said this week that full F train service would return in May. Officials did not say when C train service would be back to normal. ([Gothamist]( Congestion pricing is one step closer to happening. The plan to charge drivers going into Manhattan below 60th Street, which was supposed to take effect back in January, cleared a major hurdle this week after the Biden administration said the project would only need an "Environmental Assessment," rather than a more onerous "Environmental Impact Statement." The challenge now will be to get through the final steps of implementing the program without so many groups claiming exemptions that the tolls doesn't raise serious money. ([Gothamist]( People who forgot to suspend the pre-tax transit allowance taken out of their paycheck can't get that money back. In the best case, they'll have a surplus of money waiting for them to spend on commuting fees once they return to their offices. But the fear among many workers — some of whom have thousands of dollars sitting in transit-specific accounts that they can't touch — is that they'll lose that money entirely if they get laid off or change jobs. ([The New York Times]( Some Red Hook residents are terrified that two new Amazon facilities and a UPS warehouse will lead to dangerously clogged streets. Amazon's pair of so-called last-mile centers, which will enable the company to meet the growing demand for same- or next-day delivery, will mean more sprinter vans zipping around the neighborhood's narrow streets. For its part, Amazon says the facilities will provide hundreds of jobs, and it plans to use electric vehicles in the coming years. ([The Wall Street Journal]( The MTA is considering giving outer-borough New Yorkers discounts to ride commuter rails. The Long Island Rail Road already offers discounted trips between southeast Queens and Brooklyn. In an effort to avoid overcrowding on certain subway lines as more workers begin commuting, the MTA may offer similar discounts on Metro-North trains for Bronx residents. ([THE CITY]( A liberal think tank is urging NJ Transit to really ramp up its effort to make its bus fleet all-electric. Currently, NJ Transit has allocated $15 million towards buying electric buses through 2026, with the goal of having a zero-emissions fleet by 2032. But a report from the group New Jersey Policy Perspective says the state needs to put about $5.7 billion towards the effort if it wants to replace all the diesel buses with electric ones and create proper charging stations for them. ([NJ Spotlight]( Amtrak Fantasy Map Or Very Lopsided 'Ticket To Ride' Expansion Board? Amtrak In response to President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, Amtrak released a pitch for 30 new routes, including stops in Bachelor/Bachelorette Party meccas Nashville and Las Vegas. In the proposal, Amtrak notes that train travel is 73% more energy efficient than flying, and 83% more efficient than car travel. The agency also argues that added train service will be essential in growing cities where people already spend 80 hours a year in traffic. [Zoom in]( — it's a fun map. Weekend Service Changes: Night of April 2nd – Early Morning on April 5th Note: The entire subway system is still closed each night this weekend from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. The MTA has not yet posted service updates for the weekend. [Check here]( for when they do go live. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. James Ramsay might just get vaxxed and take an Amtrak to Eau Claire. (Photo by Amy Pearl) 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 © 2021 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](