Res. No. 622 Title Resolution calling upon the appropriate committee of the Council of the City of New York to hold hearings on the proposal of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union to preserve the current transit fare by implementing Bus Rapid Transit, a service innovation projected to produce savings of up to $300 million, enhance the fiscal and management integrity of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and reduce wasteful practices. Body By Council Members Foster, Addabbo, Baez, Barron, Comrie, Dilan, Felder, Jackson, Jennings, Lopez, Martinez, Monserrate, Perkins, Reyna, Rivera, Seabrook, Sears, Serrano, Stewart, Vann, Gerson, Quinn and Brewer Whereas, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has stated that a fare hike and/or service cuts are inevitable because of a projected budget deficit of approximately $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2003 and of $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2004; and Whereas, Transport Workers Union Local 100 (TWU) has proposed to preserve the current transit fare by suggesting that the MTA implement Bus Rapid Transit, a service innovation that would enhance the fiscal and management integrity of the MTA and reduce wasteful practices; and Whereas, The TWU has stated that despite increased ridership, decreased operating expenses and stable tax payments to the MTA, the deficit has arisen because of such factors as failure to implement Bus Rapid Transit, poor MTA financial and management practices and by contracting out non-capital and capital work; and Whereas, The TWU has proposed implementing Bus Rapid Transit in geographic areas with heavy bus ridership and slow bus speeds through a combination of features tailored to each location or corridor; and Whereas, Such features of the Bus Rapid Transit system would include more frequent service, bus bulbs1, longer bus stops, bus lanes with raised lane dividers, low-floor buses, pre-boarding fare collection, priority traffic signals, headway-based scheduling, among other innovations; and Whereas, The TWU believes that the conversion of forty-five percent of current bus routes by early 2003 to Bus Rapid Transit could result in savings of up to $300 million, reduce travel time by forty percent, increase service reliability by eighty-six percent, increase speed from 6.6 miles per hour in Manhattan and the Bronx to 9.3 miles per hour and improve the environment by reducing congestion; and Whereas, The TWU has proposed creating an Attorney General's Office of Contracting Oversight, regular auditing by the City and State Comptrollers and creating a Transit Independent Budget Office as a means of enhancing the integrity of MTA finances and management; and Whereas, The TWU has proposed that both non-capital and capital work be done in-house by MTA employees for a projected savings of between to $30 million and $325 million; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the appropriate committee of the Council of the City of New York hold hearings on the proposal of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union to preserve the current transit fare by implementing Bus Rapid Transit, a service innovation projected to produce savings of up to $300 million, enhance the fiscal and management integrity of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and reduce wasteful practices. 1 "Bus bulbs" bring sidewalks out one lane to enable buses to pick up passengers without having to maneuver into and out of bus stops. MBS-12-11-02 LS#1572