The subway and bus system is the heartbeat of NYC.

Without it, none of us can get to work, school, or to see friends and family. As Mayor, I know firsthand how important the MTA is to NYC residents, and I’ll prioritize its efficiency and accessibility. The biggest issue facing the MTA is its funding, which is unfortunately controlled at the State level. I will do everything in my power to lobby Albany for the funding the MTA needs. 

In addition to fighting for proper MTA funding, I’ll focus on the following plans to make the MTA keep up with New Yorkers. 

Modernizing Access-A-Ride and Subway Stations

About 160,000 people with disabilities use the Access-A-Ride service to get around the city for their commute. The service costs several times more than an average taxi ride, about $86 per ride, but at a fraction of the reliability. Access-A-Ride wait periods are unnecessarily long, which causes riders to miss appointments or be late to work and obligations. Sometimes the rides never come. Requesting a ride must be made in advance the day before, which is too much of a hassle for the fast-paced life New Yorkers lead.

In addition to greater specialized transportation, our public transit is long overdue modernization. When the MTA gets new funding, it rarely goes toward new elevators or accessibility options. Only 25 percent of subway stations in NYC are wheelchair accessible, one of the lowest in any major transit system in the world. Even then, our currently-accessible MTA stations are in desperate need of repair and renovation. In 2015, there were 14,092 elevator outages. Every year, each subway elevator will break down or go out of order 53 times. For New Yorkers with disabilities, that will mean they have to take a detour 53 times a year. On the R line, only 1 of the 11 stations in Downtown Brooklyn is wheelchair accessible.

And this doesn’t just affect the disabled community. Parents with strollers, shoppers with a cart full of groceries, elderly folks, and travelers with suitcases have all felt the burden of arriving at a subway station to see the station has only inaccessible stairs.

A city that is easy to navigate for the disabled will be better for everyone. As Mayor, I’ll launch a citywide plan designed with accessibility at the heart, including:

• Deputy Mayor for the Public Realm, to oversee open spaces, including streets and transportation access

• Expansion of the city’s bus network, especially in the far areas of the city that have poor subway and bus accessibility

• Pilot program modeled after London’s flexible buses to have a vastly more responsive upgrade to Access-a-ride

  • Create a new website and app for users to reserve rides on a shorter notice 

• ADA-compliant access to all public facilities, including transportation and voting

As Mayor, I also commit to ensuring all information that leaves my office is accessible to all, by having accessible websites, distribution of information in Braille, ASL interpretation at all speaking events, and captioning. 

Better Technology for A Better MTA

The MTA is falling behind in many of its repairs and upgrades. Many New Yorkers remember the disrepair that our subway system experienced in the 1980s, where the subway was breaking down all the time. Before ridership dropped during the pandemic, we were on the verge of hitting that level of disrepair again. Under my City Hall, we won’t let that happen.

In order to ensure total transparency and clarity for New Yorkers, I will create a citywide plan online, updated at minimum yearly, that maps proposed and planned real estate development, street enhancements, parks and open spaces and transportation. 

I’ll also invest in better technology for everyday MTA passengers. While the countdown clocks that were recently installed inside subway stations is a great step forward, we need to bring those clocks outside & above ground, so you can see them before you enter the station. And we need to do the same for bus arrivals, too. I’ll get all of this done in physical signs at stations, and in a more reliable MTA app that also allows users to track station maintenance. 

Better Data For Development

I want to use Uber & Lyft data in order for my cabinet to have a better idea of what we need to expand and fix. Because Rideshare usage and Taxis run the routes that aren't properly served by public transportation, we can use that data to understand what parts of the city are being neglected by public transit. By gathering data of where people take Ubers, we can rework our bus route map to better serve everyone, especially going between outer boros!

Bikes And Pedestrians

My plan for bikes and pedestrians will involve prioritizing bike lanes and pedestrian safety for infrastructure repairs. I have experience building safer bike lanes. In the Long Island City waterfront development, which I project managed, we built curved streets with cobblestones to naturally slow car traffic. As a result, between 2016 and 2020, there were only 120 crashes and 25 injuries in the entire Queens West area.  

2020 generated great strides in revolutionizing our city’s street use, bringing a record 63.8 miles of new bike lanes and 83 miles of car-free open streets. This trend should continue. By expanding upon the number of planned car-free open streets and bike lanes, we can further encourage more efficient and accessible modes of transportation such as CityBikes and scooters, as well as providing micro-commuters with a safer environment in which to use them.

This will encourage a lessened need for cars in our city, significantly expediting our progress toward New York State’s current (Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act) target of an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. 

NYC has committed to city bus electrification, but extending that commitment to trucks and rideshare companies should be our next step. With this comes a vast expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure- increasing both the number and spread of charging stations, and making electric transportation more accessible and sustainable.

The global transportation sector accounts for almost 25% of GHG emissions, with 72% of that being a result of road transport. By actively encouraging green transportation, NYC can drastically minimize our contribution to that figure while simultaneously improving quality of life in our city.

More reading: Read my interview in Streetsblog about rethinking how we use our streets.