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BREAKOUT SESSION #2: Filling the Gap in the Transit

Map: Tackling the Two-Fare Zone and Transportation

Brodie Enoch reminded the crowd that transit deserts are not only anouter borough problem, but also a problem in parts of Upper Manhattan aswell.

Elena Conte of the Pratt Center stated that certain populations, such as theelderly, are more vulnerable to impacts of transit deserts and need better

access to accessible bus lines, even ifthey live near subway stations, since

many stations are inaccessible.

Jonathan Bowles of the Center for an Urban Future noted that the transitnetwork is Manhattan-centricmeaning that it is designed to ensure

access to the Midtown and Downtown central business districts. In reality,

Bowles said, the City now has job centers throughout the five boroughs and

we need to think more about interborough connectivity.

In addition, Bowles stated that investing in building out our transit networkwill make the Citys more affordable neighborhoods more accessible.

Due in part to the enormous expense of expanding the subway network,we have seen a growing phenomenon of people taking buses to the

terminal stops of subway lines and entering the system at those points. For

instance, the Flushing-Main Street station on the 7 line has seen a huge

growth in the last ten years.

Tamisha Chavis, a community organizer from Southeast Queens, spoke ofthe importance of community pressure on DOT/MTA to ensure continued

access to the network.

The panel had a variety of possible solutions to the problem of transitdeserts

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o Joe Meyer, the CEO of HopStop, described how technology could helpfill the information gap about transit options and guide people to the

most direct route.

o Meyer also expressed skepticism about public construction and saidthat private industries have to step in to provide reliable and

affordable transportation. Indeed, some in the audience expressed

support for the TLCs pilot program of dollar vans

o Some in the audience also called on the State/City to dissolve theMTA and move to a different model of transit completely.

TAKEAWAY: Transit deserts reflect a system that was drafted in 1900 and finds

itself under financial pressure in the early part of the 21st

century. In constructing

a five-borough blueprint for the future, we must not only think about linking

historic business districts in Manhattan to the outer boroughs. Rather, we muststimulate new centers of job creation in the outer boroughs and link the transit

network to those emerging neighborhoods. Given the expense of subway

construction, expanding the network will largely be done via buses, perhaps with

a private sector component.