Transit advocates back bill to encourage alternatives to highway expansion projects

Fresh off the start of congestion pricing in New York City, transit and environmental advocates are looking to decrease car dependence statewide. They’re kicking off the New Yorkers for Transportation Equity campaign on Monday evening in support of legislation meant to reduce total vehicle miles traveled in the state by 20% in 25 years.

The campaign is for the Get Around NY Act, sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes of Brooklyn and Assembly Member Karen McMahon of Western New York. First introduced in 2023, the legislation would set a goal of reducing the total number of miles that cars and other vehicles travel throughout the state by 20% by 2050 to help the state meet its ambitious climate goals. It would require all highway expansion projects to undergo a “vehicle miles traveled assessment” before proceeding to ensure that they align with the goals of reducing car travel – and thus emissions. Projects that don’t align with the goals would need to either be adjusted or include mitigation measures such as investment into public transit infrastructure, transit-oriented development and other transportation methods like bike lanes. 

The Riders Alliance is one of the groups that is pushing for the bill, which has not yet been reintroduced for the new year. Policy and Communications Director Danny Pearlstein said the new coalition came into focus after the results of a recent report from the Brookings Institute that examined departments of transportation around the country. According to the report, New York’s DOT ranked 49th in the country, with only North Dakota below it. “That's primarily because the department doesn't plan or prioritize properly, and it has a significant impact on New Yorkers,” Pearlstein said. “It means that we waste billions of dollars on ludicrous projects like the Van Wyck expansion and potentially the expansion of NY 17, I-86.”

New York Focus reported in September that the planned NY 17 expansion, estimated at $1.3 billion, would shave off just six minutes from the commute times of drivers on the highway. The outlet had previously reported that Gov. Kathy Hochul has prioritized highway expansions, using federal dollars for such projects when that money could have also been put towards alternative transportation projects. “These are 20th century notions that have no place in New York with our climate goals, with our equity mandates and, of course, with the looming pressure of the Trump administration making every last dollar count,” Pearlstein said.

Steve Roll, a Rochester resident who has epilepsy, told City & State that he drove regularly until 2019, when his first seizure in many years meant he couldn’t drive for the next year. “I remember distinctly that when I regained consciousness from that, and I was getting loaded into an ambulance… I was worried about how difficult it would be to live here in Rochester without a car,” Earl said. He had never really considered taking the bus before then, and didn’t own a bike – though that soon changed as he began biking to get around. “I quickly realized the challenges of living without a car,” Roll said. Since Rochester doesn’t have very much bike infrastructure, he said, he must ride his bike right next to cars. He said that public transit in the city isn’t quick; a recent five-mile bus trip took him over an hour. 

New York wouldn’t be the first state to enact a law seeking to reduce vehicle miles traveled. Minnesota approved something similar in 2023 as part of a package of reforms to that state’s DOT, and Colorado passed similar legislation in 2021. California set a particularly ambitious goal of cutting vehicle miles traveled by 20% by 2030. Although advocates tout new Bus Rapid Transit routes in Colorado and other improvements like bike lanes and and walkways through shifted funds, some transportation experts have reservations about state policies aimed at reducing vehicle miles traveled.

There also may not be much appetite for additional policies seen as taking aim at car drivers in the state. In New York City, congestion pricing has had a rocky reception at best as opponents attack the tolling program and Republicans in Congress promise to kill it with support from incoming-President Donald Trump.