Cantor: Regional unmet road infrastructure needs: show me the money

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The story is not new. Long Island is New York State’s cash cow. The region sends more tax revenues to Albany than we get back in services and revenue sharing. It’s less of a factor of Long Island’s needs—which are many—but more of how state revenues are distributed to localities by a New York City centric state government. The latest skirmish is over how federal transportation funding for roadway and transit infrastructure is distributed to New York’s 62 counties, including the five boroughs of New York City, and who applies for that funding.

Currently, the Nassau/Suffolk Transportation Coordinating Committee (N/STCC), comprised of the Nassau and Suffolk county executives, environmentalists and public works officials, identify transportation infrastructure needs of the region. N/STCC is one of three transportation coordinating committees, including one for the Lower Hudson Region, with the other representing the five boroughs of New York City that comprise the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC). NYMTC, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the 10-county downstate region, collectively prioritizes which projects to submit for funding. With NYMTC dominated by New York City, and with the enormity of New York City’s infrastructure needs and political influence, Long Island’s ability to receive its fair share of federal transportation infrastructure dollars is outweighed by New York City’s clout.

Consider that recently New York City received $38.1 billion in federal transportation dollars as compared with Long Island’s $5.9 billion, a dismal 6.4:1 ratio. Additionally, Long Island received less than 1% of the $5 billion that New York State received from the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure bill enacted in 2021. The paltry distribution is happening at a time when Long Island’s surface condition ratings of “good to excellent” have declined from 84% in 2017 to 59% by 2021. The decrease in funding—while the needs are increasing—is eye-opening. However, it hasn’t always been this way.

There was a time not long ago when transportation funds were based on roadway lane miles and registered vehicles. With Suffolk and Nassau counties ranked first and third, respectively, in lane miles, and with registered vehicles in both counties exceeding 1 million, Long Island received 23% of New York State’s transportation dollars. That all ended when this equitable formula for distributing federal transportation dollars was abandoned during the administration of Gov. Spitzer. Today, despite maintaining the largest number of lane miles and contending with the highest concentration of vehicles, Long Island’s share of the current transportation funding has precipitously dropped to less than 7%. Long Island has been left behind in state transportation infrastructure investments. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

In Albany, there’s current legislation introduced by Assemblyman Steve Stern (D-Huntington), and the State Senate Transportation Chair Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester), which would have the Nassau-Suffolk Transportation Coordinating Committee withdraw from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Committee and be designated as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Long Island. With this as its own MPO, the region can develop and prioritize transportation infrastructure projects and then apply directly to the U.S. Department of Transportation for its own federal transportation funding.

A Long Island MPO will ensure regional transportation projects receive the consideration and funding they deserve. Something that is not currently happening in the magnitude that meets Long Island’s transportation infrastructure needs.

Martin Cantor is director of the Long Island Center for Socio-Economic Policy and former Suffolk County economic development commissioner. He can be reached at [email protected].