Daniel Convissor's Website

New York Metropolitan Transportation Council

The MPO's are supposed to play a major role in the funding process, determining which projects to include in the Transportation Improvement Program, a list of projects eligible for federal money. As it turns out, NYMTC's power is usurped by the methods NYS Department of Transportation (DOT) and Region 11 use to distribute funds.

The State divides transportation dollars up amongst the regions and then each region decides which projects to implement, bypassing the MPO process. As a hypothetical example, say the state has $3 b. for projects in the NYMTC area. The state decides that Mid-Hudson gets $1 b., NYC gets $1b. and Nassau-Suffolk gets $1b. Then Region 11 splits their funds between itself, the City DOT, and the MTA using a percentage agreed upon by three agencies.

Everyone gets their own pot and that's it. NYMTC does nothing to prioritize projects in the region. The Mid-Hudson and Nassau-Suffolk TCC's refuse to discuss funding allocations with the NYC TCC because they fear losing big sums to the city.

The full council, which generally meets once a year, is composed of the county executives from each of the suburban counties, plus NYS DOT, NYC DOT, NYC Department of City Planning and the MTA. Each member gets on vote.

Most NYMTC business is handled by the Program, Finance and Administration Committee (PFAC). At this level, each TCC gets one vote in a means determined by each subregion. Rockland, Putnam and Westchester Counties cast one collective vote. Nassau and Suffolk each cast half a vote. The City DOT and DCP alternate their voting role each year. The MTA has one vote and the State DOT gets one vote.

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