Monday, December 18, 2006
FTA Perfidy—Or Merely Inexcusable Incompetence?
Apparently, there is no limit to how far the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is willing to stretch the interpretation of their guidelines when they want to fund a project or are under high-powered political pressure to fund a project. Case in point; the North Shore Connector.
Back in the fall of 2003 when the FTA announced its recommendation to proceed with the Connector, they reported that the “operating financial condition of the Port Authority is stable.” It went on to comment that the “project’s [the Connector] non-farebox funding will be covered by forecasted operating surpluses.” And to round out their review of the Port Authority’s future financial picture, “All operating sources exist and are committed. State and county operating funds will account for 23.4 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively, of total operating revenues in FY 2009.”
Three years later on the eve of starting construction on the Connector, how imbecilic and fatuous the FTA’s words seem now. The problem is they simply took the Port Authority’s assertions at face value and regurgitated them in their recommendation analysis. Granted, that was then. Maybe they can be forgiven for being gullible in 2003. But events transpiring over the last three years and the facts regarding the Port Authority’s horrendous cost structure, its glaring inefficiencies, its current and prospective severe financial problems that will almost certainly necessitate service cuts and fare increases, should have attracted some notice by the FTA. Surely, some member of staff comes out once and while to look at what’s happening with the recipient of massive amounts of taxpayer dollars the FTA is charged with spending prudently and circumspectly. For the FTA to be ignorant of the financial debacle at the Port Authority is simply not plausible.
Further, in light of the fiscal shambles at the Port Authority, the FTA ought to feel a moral obligation to withhold funding for the construction of a project whose costs are already well beyond the initially approved amount and whose ridership numbers and economic benefits have been dramatically reduced as a result of the decision to eliminate the line to the Convention Center. Indeed, without the Convention Center line, much of the economic justification for the Connector that was given weight by the FTA has been removed.
In an amazing disregard for good sense and its solemn duty to protect taxpayer interests, the FTA continues to support the project and is releasing funds to begin work despite the fact that the earlier, flimsy case for supporting the project has been obliterated.
Surely, the mystery that will haunt the Connector project forever is why no member of Congress was willing to step forward and oppose this monstrosity.
Back in the fall of 2003 when the FTA announced its recommendation to proceed with the Connector, they reported that the “operating financial condition of the Port Authority is stable.” It went on to comment that the “project’s [the Connector] non-farebox funding will be covered by forecasted operating surpluses.” And to round out their review of the Port Authority’s future financial picture, “All operating sources exist and are committed. State and county operating funds will account for 23.4 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively, of total operating revenues in FY 2009.”
Three years later on the eve of starting construction on the Connector, how imbecilic and fatuous the FTA’s words seem now. The problem is they simply took the Port Authority’s assertions at face value and regurgitated them in their recommendation analysis. Granted, that was then. Maybe they can be forgiven for being gullible in 2003. But events transpiring over the last three years and the facts regarding the Port Authority’s horrendous cost structure, its glaring inefficiencies, its current and prospective severe financial problems that will almost certainly necessitate service cuts and fare increases, should have attracted some notice by the FTA. Surely, some member of staff comes out once and while to look at what’s happening with the recipient of massive amounts of taxpayer dollars the FTA is charged with spending prudently and circumspectly. For the FTA to be ignorant of the financial debacle at the Port Authority is simply not plausible.
Further, in light of the fiscal shambles at the Port Authority, the FTA ought to feel a moral obligation to withhold funding for the construction of a project whose costs are already well beyond the initially approved amount and whose ridership numbers and economic benefits have been dramatically reduced as a result of the decision to eliminate the line to the Convention Center. Indeed, without the Convention Center line, much of the economic justification for the Connector that was given weight by the FTA has been removed.
In an amazing disregard for good sense and its solemn duty to protect taxpayer interests, the FTA continues to support the project and is releasing funds to begin work despite the fact that the earlier, flimsy case for supporting the project has been obliterated.
Surely, the mystery that will haunt the Connector project forever is why no member of Congress was willing to step forward and oppose this monstrosity.
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In the December 19th issue of the NY Times, they ran this article on a new station for the Long Island Rail Road. Today, the LIRR, which has an average daily ridership of 106,000 runs only to Penn Station. Since Penn Station is on the Lower West side of Manhattan, about half of those 106,000 riders have to make connections back to the East side, extending their commute by an average of 40 minutes.
The LIRR has just started construction, at a cost of $6.3 Billion, on a new rail line that will run from Queens to Grand Central Station, located on the East Side of Manhattan. That $6.3 Billion, of which $2.6 Billion will come from Federal monies, is being used to shorten the commute for 53,000 riders. Compare this to the $435 Million being spent on the North Shore Connector for 14,000 riders. Don't forget that Metropolitan New York has a population in the neighborhood of 12 Million.
Even though the LIRR project has a lower percentage of Federal Funding than the North Shore Connector, the overall cost per commuter (if that is a valid measure of this type of project) is significantly more.
Why do I mention this story? IMHO, the Long Island Rail Road project appears to be more of a boondoggle than the North Shore Connector. You are always blaming the Port Authority for this project. Why don't you put the blame where it really belongs, on the Republican Congress (and Republican President) that created the Transportation Block Grant mess? If Congress hadn't created these Block Grants, then you wouldn't see Transportation Authorities wasting billions of Federal dollars on boondoggles.
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The LIRR has just started construction, at a cost of $6.3 Billion, on a new rail line that will run from Queens to Grand Central Station, located on the East Side of Manhattan. That $6.3 Billion, of which $2.6 Billion will come from Federal monies, is being used to shorten the commute for 53,000 riders. Compare this to the $435 Million being spent on the North Shore Connector for 14,000 riders. Don't forget that Metropolitan New York has a population in the neighborhood of 12 Million.
Even though the LIRR project has a lower percentage of Federal Funding than the North Shore Connector, the overall cost per commuter (if that is a valid measure of this type of project) is significantly more.
Why do I mention this story? IMHO, the Long Island Rail Road project appears to be more of a boondoggle than the North Shore Connector. You are always blaming the Port Authority for this project. Why don't you put the blame where it really belongs, on the Republican Congress (and Republican President) that created the Transportation Block Grant mess? If Congress hadn't created these Block Grants, then you wouldn't see Transportation Authorities wasting billions of Federal dollars on boondoggles.
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