Make Queens Safer believes that a robust, well-maintained public transit system promotes walking and biking and makes our city streets safer for everyone.  To that end, we support full funding for the MTA capital program.

In particular, Make Queens Safer endorses the Move NY Fair Plan because of its additional potential to reduce dangerous through traffic on neighborhood arterials in Western Queens.  Currently, many drivers go out of their way to use Northern Boulevard, Roosevelt Avenue, and Queens Boulevard to reach the free Queensboro Bridge, in order to avoid tolls on the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and the RFK Bridge.  Under the Move NY Fair Plan, the incentive to do this will be eliminated, helping improve conditions on these dangerous streets.

If tolls are implemented on the East River Bridges, we urge policymakers to give special attention to the needs of senior citizens and others who currently rely on a free Queensboro Bridge to reach medical appointments in Manhattan.  The City of New York stands to save perhaps ten millions of dollars each year from avoided bridge maintenance costs under this plan (more when major rehabilitation projects are required).  We believe it should be feasible and inexpensive to develop a program under which tolls for emergencies or medical visits by qualifying participants can be reimbursed from these savings.

Update: Move NY has more on our endorsement.