New York’s $8.7 Billion Consolation Prize

June 19, 2009

It can be difficult for a proud native to admit when another region bests Philadelphia. But after attending two infrastructure-related conferences last week, my pride has given way to humble admiration for a familiar foe.

As it turns out, New York really does have its act together.

Of course, neither the Mets nor Yankees can take away our Phillies' 2008 World Championship. But even now, the Big Apple is in the process of securing a handsome consolation prize.

On May 13, the federal government announced a $130 million down payment from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for a new $8.7 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River. New Jersey Transit - the operator of the new tunnel - expects to receive a total of $3 billion of federal funding for the so-called "Access to the Region's Core" (ARC) project. This single initiative is expected to double rail access into Manhattan by 2017.

Access to the Region's Core - Project Map 

By contrast, SEPTA has received $191 million from ARRA for system-wide improvements, mostly funding station renovations, signal upgrades, and signage. Not a single dollar of SEPTA's ARRA funds will be invested in the kind of transformative infrastructure that has already broken ground 90 miles to our north.

That is not to say that SEPTA's projects are unwarranted. After decades of neglect, repair initiatives will help to chip away at the system's deferred maintenance and set the stage for renewal. But it's also not easy to accept. According to a recently released study by the Federal Transit Administration, New York's transit systems - New Jersey Transit, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) - have comparable infrastructure repair demands. How is it, then, that the New York region is able to keep up while preparing to invest $8.7 billion into a single expansion project, all at the same time?

A compelling answer emerged last week at two conferences: one, hosted by the Central Philadelphia Development Corporation ("Beyond Stimulus: Thinking Strategically About Infrastructure"); and the other, hosted by PlanSmartNJ ("New Jersey and the Economic Stimulus Package: Will Mega-Investment Produce Mega Results?"). Each featured presentations from leaders of New York metro organizations - Robert Yaro, President of the Regional Plan Association, and Susan Bass Levin, Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

According to Yaro and Levin, ARRA's "shovel-ready" prerequisite presents a Catch-22 for large-scale, transformative projects like ARC, which often take shape over many years. The planning, design, and engineering phases for such projects can be cost prohibitive, and are unlikely to be pursued without relative certainty of full funding.

So when Congress passed the stimulus package in February, only truly visionary regions were able to take advantage. As it turned out, New York fit the bill, thanks in large part to the forward looking organizations like the RPA and Port Authority, which had already put in the years of legwork needed to make ARC a reality.

For all its promise, ARC is in fact indicative of the transformative role these organizations have played in the New York region for nearly a century. RPA was established in 1929 to implement the work of a transportation plan driven by the business and civic communities, which, according to Yaro, believed that the future of the region was "too important to leave to the government." The plan served as the foundation for New York's public works campaign of the 1930s, which was funded by the federal government's first stimulus package: the New Deal. Ultimately, New York built the most expansive public transit system in the world. Not surprisingly, the present-day RPA has actively mobilized civic and business-sector support for ARC.

Likewise, the Port Authority was established in the 1920s to institutionalize shared commercial interests in the region. Throughout the course of the 20^th century, the Port Authority was at the vanguard of transportation innovation, building out the largest container seaport on the East Coast at the Port of Elizabeth (NJ); two interstate tunnels, three bridges, and a subway line (PATH); and three of the nation's busiest airports - Newark International, LaGuardia, and John F. Kennedy International. This sort of comprehensive reach over transportation, trade, and commercial assets has created a mechanism for rationalizing intermodal resources and control at a regional level. As a case in point, the Port Authority was the driving force behind the ARC project, ultimately ceding implementation to New Jersey Transit when it made operational sense to do so. While the Port Authority will not own and operate the new tunnel itself, its trailblazing was essential.

Greater Philadelphia has all of the component units of the Regional Plan Association and Port Authority. The RPA is in fact something like a beefed up Economy League - the equivalent of its civic catalyzing influence joined with the CEO Council's business-led policy development and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission's technical planning capacity. As for the Port Authority, imagine if the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), which owns the region's interstate bridges and PATCO, also controlled the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, South Jersey Port Corporation, Philadelphia International Airport, and other regional airfields, such as Atlantic City International.

Comparison of Regional Intermodal Transportation Governance

Broad-based regional organizations like the RPA and Port Authority generate power by aggregating and aligning competitive interests and incentive structures into a single, regional direction. It is not difficult to envision the enormous influence that such a beefed up business-led planning organization and government-commissioned intermodal authority would have on the direction of regional decision-making in Greater Philadelphia. And yet, with so many "regional" organizations responding to divergent incentives and operating unilaterally in a competitive landscape, it's also not hard to understand how Greater Philadelphia has failed to establish such a unified direction.

So when once-in-a-generation funding opportunities like the New Deal or ARRA present themselves, New York is ready to go with a pipeline of transformative projects greased by regional leadership prepared to see them through to completion, despite inevitable roadblocks along the way. Greater Philadelphia's pipeline remains clogged by fragmented regional governance.

Just imagine if Greater Philadelphia called a "governance plumber." Imagine if SEPTA were breaking ground on a project to double its rail capacity. Imagine if the Philadelphia 2040 design studio plans for regional mobility could become a reality. Imagine the economic impact. And imagine if the federal government picked up the tab.

Or, instead of trying to imagine it, watch it happen just 90 miles away, as the Port Authority and RPA-led New York region boldly transforms itself again, this time with a new $8.7 billion rail tunnel.

--Erik Johanson, Project Manager