State Funding for the NFTA Reduces Pollution, Fights Poverty, and Promotes Economic Development

Abstract

New York State should support public transit in Buffalo-Niagara by increasing Transit Operating Assistance and increasing the NFTA’s allocation of low-cost electric power. There is no more effective tool for reducing pollution, cutting poverty, and promoting economic development than affordable and comprehensive mass transit. In recent years, New York State has been cutting its funding to the NFTA, even as the NFTA’s costs have been rising. State funding has been cut by $4.3 million since 2009, even as workers compensation costs rose 35$7 million per year