The Architect's Newspaper, April 2, 2008

Remember the '80s? MTA director Elliot G. Sander does. In the grand tradition of State-of-the-Something addresses, he began his March 3rd speech on the future of the MTA with a look back. Graffiti, derailments, crime, cave-ins… Ah, progress! But even with today's cleaned-up cars, New York isn't the City on a Hill Sander has in mind. "We stand at a crossroads," he said. "We can take a business-as-usual approach….or we can set our sights higher [and] give the region the network of mobility it needs to be competitive with its global peers." With that, he unfurled a plan of improvements and expansions to carry the transit system well into the middle of the century.

In the short term, Sander's plan demands the MTA wrap up megaprojects like the Fulton Street Transit Center, East Side Access, the extension of the 7 line, and the Second Avenue line. Beyond that, it extends the D line in the Bronx and Metro North in New Jersey and Long Island. It also introduces bus rapid transit, Long Island suburb-to-suburb shuttle service, and a Brooklyn-to-the-Bronx subway line. The MTA will also dust off existing systems with real-time text message alerts of train delays and a "contactless" fare card.

Robert Paaswell, director of the University Transportation Research Center at CCNY, says the plan works because it squints so far into the distance. "You have to know as the next dollar comes in the door, where it should go," he said. "After Second Avenue, after these big projects, what comes next? We can't just stop."

So where will that "next dollar" come from? Sander made it clear that this plan hinges on the MTA's $29.5 billion capital spending budget, announced on February 27th. Mayor Bloomberg and former governor Spitzer have supported the budget, but, Sander says, state and city money "won't be enough." The problem is Washington. "China spends 9 percent of its gross domestic product on infrastructure," Sander explained. "The United States spends less than 1 percent of its GDP. That is unacceptable."

That makes Noah Budnik, Deputy Director of the local advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, nervous. Places like Shanghai are climbing to the top of the global finance pig pile, he said. "We're competing for capital with these cities. They're pouring money into their systems, and we're not. Anybody who thinks we can help our economy by moving cars is kidding themselves."

Sander feels the pressure too. "Next year, we will have four tunnel-boring machines operating to expand the subway and regional rail systems. Sounds impressive?" he asked. "Right now, Shanghai has 90 such machines at work on rail and other projects."