4 thoughts on “Policy Options Brief: Limited Transport Access”
Transportation equity is indeed a very dense subject which has many wide reaching ramifications. I thought your brief unpacked the complexities and seriousness of the problem while providing some very implementable solutions. Another option to consider would be a beefier biking infrastructure throughout the city. A recent AM New York online article published on March 17th of this year cited that increased access to bikes could serve supplement sparse transit options in transit deserts. Of course, this option would entail the city making an effort to create an environment conducive to bike travel and new group of cyclists who may or may not have traveled that way before.
In terms of the of the options you highlighted, I feel there is enough preliminary information in the brief to lead to realistic consideration. Going any further would require a deeper dive into numbers and stats. If I were to choose an option based on the available information, I would choose a combination of options 1, 4 and 5.
There is a need to expand the network of buses to reflect the movement of the working class largely outside of Manhattan. While subway transit requires a substantial amount of construction, planning and funding, extended bus routes are more flexible at a lower cost. Additionally, improvements to existing bus travel procedures could cut down on time needed to service every stop and increase the total number of pickups made every day. The travel subsidy for low income persons could also provide an increase in overall revenue made from mass transit as well as increased employment opportunities.
This is an important issue that affects many New Yorkers. You did a great job of explaining the problem and proposing some solutions. However, there are two main issues that you might want to consider more closely in your proposed solutions: 1) The MTA is a very political body and getting approval for anything involves the support of the governor, mayor and other elected officials of the various counties served by MTA – I’m not sure you can accomplish this by only addressing the Councilmember and MTA Acting President; 2) Bus routes affect traffic and will therefore involve input from the Department of Transportation in designing a plan that does not heavily disrupt traffic flow. Hope this helps!
This is a great and very thorough paper. I would like to see more discussion of how lack of transportation in a given neighborhood contributes to higher unemployment, maybe teasing out more data to show causation rather than correlation. I’m also stumped about what the policy solution would be to lack of public transit in transit deserts: part of the reason these neighborhoods are poor is itself the lack of infrastructure such as transportation. So adding more public transportation to a neighborhood would contribute to gentrification and thus push the more vulnerable and stranded residents to the margins, to other areas that are likely to have poor public transport infrastructure. In other words how do you expand public transport in a neighborhood without the transport itself contributing to the neighborhood becoming unaffordable?
Great job presenting the policy options. One of the things that provides undeserved communities equal chance to move up is access whether it is education, health or transportation. Transportation system in New York has lagged compared to many cities and it is serious problem for many people that come to New York city for opportunity. The infrastructure badly needs repairs and it ultimately costs money and time. The policy options you presented addresses the issue of alternative routes and giving access to communities but it lacks financial support. I agree with your options to evaluate and reduce the cost of new construction but there has to be a strong support to finance these changes. Perhaps the city can allow privatization to allow competition and reduce costs. Can the transport system allow decentralization to break monopoly? This would provide private companies autonomy and authority over the communities they serve. It would be great to find out the cost/benefit of having private transport service in those communities. There is also need of data collection on how much access the community needs. Transportation to communities may increase people traffic and need for more public spaces. Overall, great job with policy and would love to hear more about it.
Transportation equity is indeed a very dense subject which has many wide reaching ramifications. I thought your brief unpacked the complexities and seriousness of the problem while providing some very implementable solutions. Another option to consider would be a beefier biking infrastructure throughout the city. A recent AM New York online article published on March 17th of this year cited that increased access to bikes could serve supplement sparse transit options in transit deserts. Of course, this option would entail the city making an effort to create an environment conducive to bike travel and new group of cyclists who may or may not have traveled that way before.
In terms of the of the options you highlighted, I feel there is enough preliminary information in the brief to lead to realistic consideration. Going any further would require a deeper dive into numbers and stats. If I were to choose an option based on the available information, I would choose a combination of options 1, 4 and 5.
There is a need to expand the network of buses to reflect the movement of the working class largely outside of Manhattan. While subway transit requires a substantial amount of construction, planning and funding, extended bus routes are more flexible at a lower cost. Additionally, improvements to existing bus travel procedures could cut down on time needed to service every stop and increase the total number of pickups made every day. The travel subsidy for low income persons could also provide an increase in overall revenue made from mass transit as well as increased employment opportunities.
This is an important issue that affects many New Yorkers. You did a great job of explaining the problem and proposing some solutions. However, there are two main issues that you might want to consider more closely in your proposed solutions: 1) The MTA is a very political body and getting approval for anything involves the support of the governor, mayor and other elected officials of the various counties served by MTA – I’m not sure you can accomplish this by only addressing the Councilmember and MTA Acting President; 2) Bus routes affect traffic and will therefore involve input from the Department of Transportation in designing a plan that does not heavily disrupt traffic flow. Hope this helps!
This is a great and very thorough paper. I would like to see more discussion of how lack of transportation in a given neighborhood contributes to higher unemployment, maybe teasing out more data to show causation rather than correlation. I’m also stumped about what the policy solution would be to lack of public transit in transit deserts: part of the reason these neighborhoods are poor is itself the lack of infrastructure such as transportation. So adding more public transportation to a neighborhood would contribute to gentrification and thus push the more vulnerable and stranded residents to the margins, to other areas that are likely to have poor public transport infrastructure. In other words how do you expand public transport in a neighborhood without the transport itself contributing to the neighborhood becoming unaffordable?
Great job presenting the policy options. One of the things that provides undeserved communities equal chance to move up is access whether it is education, health or transportation. Transportation system in New York has lagged compared to many cities and it is serious problem for many people that come to New York city for opportunity. The infrastructure badly needs repairs and it ultimately costs money and time. The policy options you presented addresses the issue of alternative routes and giving access to communities but it lacks financial support. I agree with your options to evaluate and reduce the cost of new construction but there has to be a strong support to finance these changes. Perhaps the city can allow privatization to allow competition and reduce costs. Can the transport system allow decentralization to break monopoly? This would provide private companies autonomy and authority over the communities they serve. It would be great to find out the cost/benefit of having private transport service in those communities. There is also need of data collection on how much access the community needs. Transportation to communities may increase people traffic and need for more public spaces. Overall, great job with policy and would love to hear more about it.