§ 1701 — Legislative findings and declaration

§ 1701. Legislative findings and declaration. The ongoing failures of\nthe tracks, signals, switches, electrical power, and other\ntransportation infrastructure throughout the subway system in the city\nof New York continue to have a significant deleterious impact on the\nhealth, safety, and livelihood of commuters, tourists, resident New\nYorkers, as well as business and commerce in the metropolitan commuter\ntransportation district, which is the recognized economic engine of the\nstate of New York, and thereby have adversely affected the economy of\nthe state of New York. Temporary actions have been taken to address the\nsafety of subway, bus and commuter rail riders in the short term\nincluding an emergency declaration and increased capital funding for the\nsubways in the most recently adopted state budget. The legislature,\nhowever, determines that a long-term and sustainable solution is\nnecessary in order to ensure stable and reliable funding to repair and\nrevitalize this significantly important mass transit asset.\n The legislature further finds and declares that traffic congestion in\nthe city of New York ranks second worst among cities in the United\nStates and third worst among cities in the world, and results in\nsignificant cost to the New York metropolitan area economy and in turn\nthe state's economy at estimates exceeding one hundred billion dollars\nover the next five years. Travel speeds in the city of New York's\ncentral business district have dropped more than seventeen percent in\ntwo thousand sixteen to an average of 6.8 miles per hour and in Midtown\nManhattan, the most congested area of the city-the area from fifty-ninth\nstreet to thirty-fifth street and from ninth avenue to the east\nriver-the average vehicular speed is 4.7 miles per hour. Congestion in\nthese areas is crippling and impacts the everyday lives of residents,\ncommuters, taxi and for-hire vehicle traffic, bus transit and emergency\nservices, and is a significant contributor to decreased air quality.\n These issues have been recognized by both the Fix NYC Advisory Panel\nand the Metropolitan Transportation Sustainability Advisory Workgroup as\nsignificant impediments to everyday New Yorkers.\n In order to ensure a safe and efficient mass transit system within the\ncity of New York and to protect the public health and safety of New\nYork's residents, a program to establish tolls for vehicles entering or\nremaining in the most congested area of the state is found to be\nnecessary and to be a matter of substantial state concern.\n