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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 10, 2004

SCHUMER, BLOOMBERG, MTA CHAIR KALIKOW BEGIN NEW CAMPAIGN FOR BILLIONS IN FEDERAL TRANSIT MONEY FOR NY

Key Senate Committee has approved $7.1 billion for New York transit – a huge increase over the $5 billion New York got in 1998 - new money could go for new construction, new cars, station rehabilitation and to reduce pressure for fare increase

Senator and MTA Chair join Mayor for subway ride to City Hall Station where they will outline strategy for maximum New York funding when US House crafts its bill

US Senator Chuck Schumer, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman Peter Kalikow this morning rode the 6 Train to the Brooklyn Bridge subway station across from City Hall, where they announced a new campaign to get New York the maximum possible amount of Federal transit money over the next six years.

"At any time of any day, one out of every three people who is riding a public bus, train, subway or even monorail anywhere in the United States is doing it metro New York," Schumer said. "We have the nation's largest regional public transit system, and without it we couldn't ever support the nation's largest economy. These funds would be a huge shot in the arm for everything the MTA does – new construction, new train cars, station rehabilitation and maybe they even can reduce pressure for fare increase."

"Federal mass transit funding ensures that every day the 2.4 million people who ride the subways in our City get where they need to go quickly and safely," Mayor Bloomberg said. That's why I am pleased to congratulate Senator Schumer for helping to persuade his colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee to vote unanimously to increase transit funding for New York so that we can continue to improve the most important transit system in the nation. I look forward to working with Senator Schumer and his colleagues to move this important appropriation through the Congress and make it a reality."

"I'd like to thank Senator Schumer for his leadership in the Senate Banking Committee along with Committee Chairman Senator Richard Shelby - they have secured the initial federal commitment necessary for mass transit capital funding in New York," Chairman Kalikow said.

The nation's transit legislation is supposed to be renewed by Congress every six years, and last week the US Senate Banking Committee approved a version of the legislation that would send New York at least $7.1 billion for the next six years. This figure is a significant increase over the $5 billion for New York in the last major transportation bill that passed in 1998 and expired last October. The $7.1 billion figure is also a significant increase over the amount the Senate originally proposed this year – the original Senate legislation would have sent New York $6.5 billion.

Without changing the total $56.5 billion price tag for the transit bill, Schumer and a bipartisan group of Senators led by top Banking Committee Democrats Paul Sarbanes of Maryland and Jack Reed of Rhode Island and including conservative Republican Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania were able to increase the amount of "formula"funds distributed to urban states with large mass transit systems. This increase alone would send more than an extra $100 million to New York every year for the life of the bill. The bill also increases the percentage of formula funds sent to New York from 17% to 18.1%, which is also important because while funding levels can change over the life of a transit law, the underlying formulas generally stay the same.

Schumer lobbied intensely for these changes, even calling Senate Banking Chairman Richard A Shelby of Alabama at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to get more money for New York. Senators Sarbanes, Shelby and Santorum also joined Schumer to push through language written by Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to ensure a stronger guarantee from the Senate Finance Committee that the transit programs would receive their full allotment of funds. Traditionally, the Finance Committee – which is dominated by Senators from rural states – is more interested in providing highway funding than transit money.

There are two versions of the transit bill circulating in the House of Representatives, where no committee has voted on a bill yet. The version that most Capitol Hill observers feel has a greater chance of passage is called SAFETEA and would send $6.0 billion to New York (17.6% of the $34.4 billion in formula funds - the totlal price-tag on the bill is $45.8 billion). There is also bill called TEA LU under consideration in the House, but there is a general consensus that the government couldn't afford its $69.2 billion price-tag without some form of a gasoline tax increase. Despite its overall larger price tag, the Senate bill still sends a higher percentage of its formula money to New York. (Tea LU only sends New York 17.7% of the funds, compared to 18.1% in the Senate bill.)

Schumer explained today that a small change in the formula for New York could make a difference of hundreds of millions of dollars for transit. He also explained that under the language of the bill, the federal funds could be used for construction or repair of subway and trains, new commuter train or subway cars, new or buses, station rehabilitation and possibly to reduce pressure for a fare increase.

Schumer and Bloomberg today urged the Members of the House to approve a version of the transit bill with both a formula and a bottom-line amount that sends New York the greatest amount of money possible to maintain and expand subway, bus, and train service. They explained that despite regional differences and a perception that legislators from most parts of the country would prefer less funding for public transit and more for highways, New York prevailed in the Senate bill. Through a similar strategy in the House , New York could secure its proposed $7.1 billion funding.

"From the Hudson Valley to Long Island to the City, New Yorkers know almost by instinct that better public transit is good for the, – from the millions of people who ride it every day to the millions more who benefit from less traffic and cleaner air because when there are less cars on the road. Without good transit, New York would literally stop dead in its tracks," Schumer said.

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