Leaders of the state Legislature’s transportation committees are backing a proposal to charge upstate drivers up to $25 more to register their vehicles.
The money generated would support public transit. But so far, the governor is skeptical.
Drivers in the New York City metro area already pay the yearly surcharge on their vehicle registrations to help fund the MTA. The proposal from Assembly Transportation Committee chairman Bill Magnarelli of Syracuse and his Senate counterpart, Jeremy Cooney of Rochester, both Democrats, would extend the fee upstate.
The fee could generate $125 million yearly based on an estimate of 5 million vehicles in the 50 counties outside the MTA region, according to the New York Public Transit Association. That would provide dedicated funding for transit systems upstate, Magnarelli said.
“It's not something that they have to come back every year begging for, not knowing how to plan. This is something that they can plan on and go forward,” he said. “New York City already has it. Only upstate doesn't have it. Enough is enough.”
The committee chairmen also support a 15% boost for those agencies, which is more than double the 5.75% increase Hochul has proposed.
Upstate agencies face a budget crunch as pandemic-era federal funding has run out and costs continue to rise, according to Miguel Velazquez, CEO of Regional Transit Service in Rochester and president of the New York Public Transit Association.
“That 15% would be critical, essential for us,” Velazquez said. “That would mean for us the ability to maintain current service, be financially sustainable, be able to have a structural balanced budget, and at the same time, put us in a position to be able to enhance our services for our communities and our customers.”
An effort to move beyond maintaining service to more investments is what Cooney said is critical going forward.
Going beyond maintaining to investing is what Cooney said is critical going forward.
“If we can increase the (route) frequency), if we can build out the types of bus infrastructure. If we can increase the type of buses that we have, if we can think about multimodal approaches so that we have smaller shuttles that go to more rural parts of our state,” Cooney said. “Let's think comprehensively and come up with technology and mobility solutions that work for all New Yorkers.”
A spokesperson for the governor said she has already made “historic investments in public transportation” and is “laser-focused on affordability,” with no plan to assess a new fee on drivers.
But the agencies and lawmakers are hopeful more funding can be found as the budget process unfolds.
