TRANSPORTATION POLICY-MAKING IN NEW YORK

Planning for transportation-or anything else-is a unique challenge in the New York City metropolitan area. Geography and history have combined here to generate urban development of unparalleled intensity, centered on the tip of the rather small island of Manhattan. As a result of rapid growth, New York is now a mature city with highly developed activities, facilities, and institutions; all of which are resistant to change. But the metropolitan are continues to attract one-tenth of the growth of an increasingly urbanized nation. While most of the population and economic expansion is occurring in the suburbs, the city's role as the nation's business headquarters and other factors are bringing profound changes within the social, economic, and physical structure of the city. From a transportation standpoint, New York City is sustained by a rail transit system of massive dimensions designed to provide low-cost service to the densely populated inner areas of the city. This paper describes how policy are being developed to modify this aging system, as well as suburban rail lines to provide a higher quality of service to expanding outer residential areas, while preserving low-cost transit service for lower-income riders.