The MTA; another way out?

Posted on | January 11, 2010 | 1 Comment

These images are taken from Benajmin over at Second Avenue Sagas, and I’m borrowing them as a great historical image about the power of transit construction, to summarize the point he very elegantly makes, but the story of New York’s development pattern is highly related to subway construction. Flushing is shown in the top image when the 7 was just built, and the bottom image shows the same site only 20 years later.

But despite the economic benefits of subway construction which include increased property values near Rail Stations (see Dr. Hess’s work in Buffalo, NY, or more a New York City oriented answer, check Craigslist and look at the rentals section). Additionally, subway transit is not elastic to cost, as many riders do not have another option for getting to work, but transit is elastic to frequency of service. So here’s an idea on how to make more money for the MTA.

Increase service. Develop additional light rail. It sounds radical, but perhaps its time for a new way of looking at the MTA fiscal crisis?

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