🚦From Toll Hikes to Transit Shakeups: Welcome to Edition #4 of the BOMA-NY Transportation Report 🗞️

Happy New Year, and buckle up.

The January 2023 BOMA-NY Transportation Report is here—and it reads like a citywide obstacle course for building operators, tenants, and commuters alike. Between fare hikes, Fifth Avenue transformations, busted airport tech, and subway cost drama, there’s no shortage of changes impacting how people move through—and work in—New York City.

In this issue, we zoom in on:

🚇 Subway milestone: 1 billion riders in 2022—but still only 60% of pre-COVID levels

💵 Fare & toll hikes: MTA, Port Authority, and Citi Bike all raised rates while budgets groan under pandemic-era deficits

🚧 BQE & Penn Station: Two mega-projects triggering neighborhood pushback, eminent domain debate, and a few “Skid Row” comparisons

🛫 Air travel chaos: From Southwest’s holiday meltdown to a nationwide FAA outage, it was a bumpy takeoff for 2023

🚴‍♀️ Bikes, buses, and betting: Citi Bike got pricier, bus lanes fell short of targets, and yes, outdoor gambling tents popped up in Chinatown parks

🚫 Congestion pricing: Still gridlocked in politics and lawsuits, but coming for your app-based car sooner or later

🌱 Sustainability & EVs: NYC adds 900+ new electric vehicles and hybrid sweepers, but garbage trucks still can’t handle snow plows

🐍 Bonus weirdness: A Florida woman tried to board a flight with a 4-foot emotional support boa constrictor. You can’t make this stuff up.

Whether you’re managing a skyscraper, overseeing loading docks, or just trying to decode why subway bathrooms are suddenly newsworthy again, this edition gives you the context and updates you need to stay sharp.

As always, we’re here for the real-world implications, a few laughs, and the occasional callout of politicians with more speeding tickets than street smarts.

📍Let’s dive in. Hold your MetroCard (while you still can).

🗞️ January 2023 Transportation Report Summary

BOMA-NY Codes & Regs – Transportation Subcommittee
Prepared by: Glenn Waldorf, Bell Environmental Services

🏙️ Government & Policy Shifts

Mayor Adams’ First Year & “New New York”

  • Mayor Adams gave himself a B+ for year one; critics noted mixed results on transportation and city services.

  • The “New New York” action plan with Governor Hochul proposes:

    • 500,000 new housing units

    • Expanded bus lanes, EV charging, congestion pricing

    • Lofty goals for MTA funding and off-peak subway expansion

    • A new “Public Realm Czar” role to manage city spaces

🚦Transportation Infrastructure & Usage

Ridership Trends & System Recovery

  • Subway ridership hit 1 billion in 2022, yet remains at ~60% of pre-COVID levels.

  • Bus use at 64%, PATH at 59%, and airport traffic now exceeding 2019 levels.

  • Midtown foot traffic still trails pre-pandemic rates, contributing to a “doom loop” warning for CRE and city budgets.

Subway Fare Hike & Budget Crisis

  • Base fare may rise from $2.75 to $2.90, with further hikes forecast.

  • MTA faces a $3B deficit by 2025; $550M annually lost to fare evasion.

  • Federal COVID aid will run out by 2026.

🚨 Safety, Crime & Enforcement

  • 2022 closed with significant transit crime concerns, but NYPD reports a 10% improvement in rider safety sentiment.

  • Subway cameras failed during the April N train shooting; shooter pleaded guilty in January.

  • NYC’s speed camera program reduced speeding violations by 25% since launching 24/7 monitoring.

💵 Toll & Fare Changes

  • Port Authority tolls rose to $17 (cash) / $14.75 (peak EZ-Pass).

  • Citi Bike raised prices across all plans; annual membership now $205.

  • Uber pay hikes blocked in court after pushback from the company.

  • City Ticket proposed to become a $5 flat fare for intra-city rail on LIRR and Metro-North.

🚘 Congestion Pricing Drama

  • Congestion pricing remains stalled. NJ politicians oppose it fiercely.

  • NY officials argue Uber/Lyft cause 43.9% of Midtown congestion and should be first targets for tolls.

  • No final rates or implementation date yet—earliest possibility is late 2023 or 2024.

🏗️ Projects & Redevelopment

  • Penn Station redevelopment cleared for blight-based takeover to build 10 new towers.

  • BQE redesign may restore removed lanes—sparking climate and community pushback.

  • Fifth Avenue transformation aims to make it a pedestrian-first boulevard from 42nd to 59th St.

🌍 Sustainability & Mobility

  • NYC adding 925 electric vehicles to city fleet, but EV garbage trucks still can’t plow snow.

  • E-bike battery fire risks continue prompting bans in residential buildings, even as the city promotes e-cargo bikes for deliveries.

  • Vision Zero push includes a call to lower NYC’s legal BAC threshold to .05 for DWI.

🛫 Aviation & Ferry Updates

  • Southwest Airlines meltdown caused widespread holiday disruptions.

  • FAA’s NOTAM system outage grounded all U.S. flights briefly in January.

  • NYC proposes moving the LIC ferry terminal, drawing local opposition.

  • JFK incident: Man caught smuggling a loaded gun inside peanut butter jars.

🃏 Bonus Stories

  • Rikers Island floated as a potential casino location amid licensing battles.

  • Council Transportation Chair’s family car caught speeding in school zones 17 times in 2022.

  • A Florida woman tried to board a plane with a 4-foot boa constrictor named Bartholomew.

Read The Full Report Here! BOMA NY Codes & Regs Committee Transportation Report January 2023