§ 1701. Legislative findings and declaration. The ongoing failures of the tracks, signals, switches, electrical power, and other transportation infrastructure throughout the subway system in the city of New York continue to have a significant deleterious impact on the health, safety, and livelihood of commuters, tourists, resident New Yorkers, as well as business and commerce in the metropolitan commuter transportation district, which is the recognized economic engine of the state of New York, and thereby have adversely affected the economy of the state of New York. Temporary actions have been taken to address the safety of subway, bus and commuter rail riders in the short term including an emergency declaration and increased capital funding for the subways in the most recently adopted state budget. The legislature, however, determines that a long-term and sustainable solution is necessary in order to ensure stable and reliable funding to repair and revitalize this significantly important mass transit asset.

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The legislature further finds and declares that traffic congestion in the city of New York ranks second worst among cities in the United States and third worst among cities in the world, and results in significant cost to the New York metropolitan area economy and in turn the state's economy at estimates exceeding one hundred billion dollars over the next five years. Travel speeds in the city of New York's central business district have dropped more than seventeen percent in two thousand sixteen to an average of 6.8 miles per hour and in Midtown Manhattan, the most congested area of the city-the area from fifty-ninth street to thirty-fifth street and from ninth avenue to the east river-the average vehicular speed is 4.7 miles per hour. Congestion in these areas is crippling and impacts the everyday lives of residents, commuters, taxi and for-hire vehicle traffic, bus transit and emergency services, and is a significant contributor to decreased air quality.

These issues have been recognized by both the Fix NYC Advisory Panel and the Metropolitan Transportation Sustainability Advisory Workgroup as significant impediments to everyday New Yorkers.

In order to ensure a safe and efficient mass transit system within the city of New York and to protect the public health and safety of New York's residents, a program to establish tolls for vehicles entering or remaining in the most congested area of the state is found to be necessary and to be a matter of substantial state concern.