The NY Metropolitan Transportation Council is holding public meetings around the region in preparation for the next of its long range transportation plans, covering most of downstate NY. Individuals and organizations have been contacting the Campaign with questions about this process. NYMTC must create the plan to comply with federal law.

Unfortunately, we have had to tell them that it is unlikely to shape transportation in the region very much. Our account of the last metropolitan plan, in 1999, noted it was a lackluster compilation of the Council’s member-agency priorities with no clear over-arching goals. Thus, the key to what will be done is the agencies themselves. The critical forums for the region’s transportation future is therefore next year’s renewal of MTA and NY State DOT capital programs, along with pending decisions about future Port Authority, Thruway and NYC projects.

Nonetheless, there may be some possibilities for progress around the planning process. The NY State DOT, for instance, is likely to insert its "LITP 2000" program into the NYTMC document as the long-range plan for Long Island. The plan — which would widen nearly all major Long Island highways — is unpopular and viewed by many as unworkable and undesirable. Because County Executives Levy and Suozzi must approve the NYMTC plan for it to be adopted, it represents a chance for them to demand and win significant changes in LITP.

The Campaign’s comments on the existing NYMTC plan are on-line at www.tstc.org/reports/nymplan.html 

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