Governor Andrew Cuomo is making a renewed push for his congestion pricing plan.
During his State of the State address on Tuesday, he spoke out in support of the proposal to charge drivers for entering busy parts of New York City during peak travel times. He believes that could raise $15 billion to help fix the subway system.
“Underfunding capital for the past 30 or 40 years has brought us to where we are. That's how you have subway cars that are 40-50 years old, and electric switches that are 100 years old. So this is an investment that has to be made,” Cuomo said.
Despite the new revenue funding source, the governor admitted that may not be enough to make the necessary upgrades at the MTA. He said if there’s a shortfall, the cost should be split 50-50 between the state and city.
"I think it's fair to New York City; I think it's also fair to Long Island and Buffalo and Westchester and I don't have a problem saying to anyone across the state keeping that system running helps the entire state. And it is worth splitting the cost with New York City, to make the investment we should've made for decades to keep that transportation system vital,” Cuomo said.
The governor said the MTA’s problems have to be addressed this year because they continue to get worse.
“The system is just continuing to deteriorate and if we don't invest now we're going to pay more later and suffer in the meantime,” Cuomo said.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy pushed to legalize recreational marijuana and to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. He also promised to fix NJ Transit.
"There is still much to do, but I am committed to making NJ Transit the turnaround story of New Jersey," Murphy said.
NJ Transit has been plagued in recent years without countless delays and cancellations on the trains.
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