N.Y. Vehicle & Traffic Law § 1701: Legislative findings and declaration

§ 1701. Legislative findings and declaration. The ongoing failures of

the tracks, signals, switches, electrical power, and other

transportation infrastructure throughout the subway system in the city

of New York continue to have a significant deleterious impact on the

health, safety, and livelihood of commuters, tourists, resident New

Yorkers, as well as business and commerce in the metropolitan commuter

transportation district, which is the recognized economic engine of the

state of New York, and thereby have adversely affected the economy of

the state of New York. Temporary actions have been taken to address the

safety of subway, bus and commuter rail riders in the short term

including an emergency declaration and increased capital funding for the

subways in the most recently adopted state budget. The legislature,

however, determines that a long-term and sustainable solution is

necessary in order to ensure stable and reliable funding to repair and

revitalize this significantly important mass transit asset.

The legislature further finds and declares that traffic congestion in

the city of New York ranks second worst among cities in the United

States and third worst among cities in the world, and results in

significant cost to the New York metropolitan area economy and in turn

the state's economy at estimates exceeding one hundred billion dollars

over the next five years. Travel speeds in the city of New York's

central business district have dropped more than seventeen percent in

two thousand sixteen to an average of 6.8 miles per hour and in Midtown

Manhattan, the most congested area of the city-the area from fifty-ninth

street to thirty-fifth street and from ninth avenue to the east

river-the average vehicular speed is 4.7 miles per hour. Congestion in

these areas is crippling and impacts the everyday lives of residents,

commuters, taxi and for-hire vehicle traffic, bus transit and emergency

services, and is a significant contributor to decreased air quality.

These issues have been recognized by both the Fix NYC Advisory Panel

and the Metropolitan Transportation Sustainability Advisory Workgroup as

significant impediments to everyday New Yorkers.

In order to ensure a safe and efficient mass transit system within the

city of New York and to protect the public health and safety of New

York's residents, a program to establish tolls for vehicles entering or

remaining in the most congested area of the state is found to be

necessary and to be a matter of substantial state concern.