All posts by inthesaltcity

Transit Between the Airport, Syracuse, Cortland, and Ithaca

Transportation

This is a proposal for an intercity transit service connecting the region of Upstate New York that includes the cities of Syracuse, Cortland, and Ithaca. The region currently contains much of the infrastructure and conditions necessary for successful intercity transit, but what service actually exists is infrequent and disjointed. This proposal consolidates and extends existing service to make it more useful and efficient for the region as a whole.

Route
The proposed transit service would run through a corridor approximately five miles wide and seventy miles long. That corridor stretches from the Hancock International Airport (SYR) through Cortland down to Ithaca. From Syracuse to Cortland, the service would run through the relatively flat and straight valleys carved by Onondaga Creek, Butternut Creek, and the Tioughnioga River, climbing 750 feet over the course of roughly 40 miles. From Cortland to Ithaca, the service would follow a much more irregular valley carved by several small streams before descending 400 feet in less than a mile to reach the City of Ithaca on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake.

projectarealabels

There is already a good deal of transportation infrastructure along this corridor. I-81 stretches from SYR to Cortland, and from there vehicles can take NY-13 from Cortland all the way to Ithaca. Vehicles can also turn from NY-13 to NY-366 to pass through Cornell University on the way into Ithaca.

CSX owns a rail line that passes within two miles of the SYR’s passenger terminal. That line continues west through the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center (the RTC, Syracuse’s Amtrak and intercity bus station) to the southern end of Onondaga Lake where it connects to the New York, Susquehanna, & Western line. That railroad curves south through Syracuse, passing Centro’s Bus Hub and Syracuse University, and it continues all the way south through Cortland to the hamlet of Munson’s Corners. There is an abandoned railroad right-of-way between Cortland and Ithaca including roughly four miles of unused track near the hamlet of McLean. In Ithaca, Norfolk Southern owns track that runs from the Ithaca Bus Station (an intercity station) north along the eastern shore of Cayuga Lake and connecting to the abandoned right of way that leads to Cortland.

There are a number of regionally significant communities and institutions along the corridor. The cities of Syracuse, Cortland, and Ithaca are each the seat of their respective counties, and each serves as the center of a local transit system. Combined, these three cities and their immediate suburbs are home to more than 500,000 people. More broadly,  the Syracuse-Auburn and Ithaca-Cortland combined statistical areas have a combined population of more than 870,000. There are also seven colleges and universities along the corridor with a combined enrollment of more than 63,000 students as well as two community colleges with a combined enrollment of more than 18,000 students.

Demand
The transit service will enable riders to accomplish two distinct tasks: travelling to or from a transit hub that connects to another intercity transportation service such as Amtrak or Megabus, and travelling between cities within the corridor. There is demonstrated demand for transit service that accomplishes each task.

Transportation to a Hub:
The only intercity passenger train station in the corridor is the RTC in Syracuse. The RTC is also the only bus station in the corridor served by Megabus, and the Centro Bus Hub in Syracuse provides the only intercity bus service to the cities of Oswego and Auburn.

Both the Tompkins Regional Airport in Ithaca (ITH) and SYR provide intercity passenger service. Of these two airports, SYR provides more frequent service to a larger number of cities than does ITH. Flights into and out of SYR are also generally cheaper than those at ITH. People travelling to or from the region by plane often must use SYR even if it would be more convenient to get to ITH.

The service will connect these hubs to three schools with student bodies that need to travel outside of the region frequently. Syracuse University, Cornell University, and Ithaca College enroll a combined total of 50,197 students, 68% of whom are from states other than New York and 18% of whom are from outside of the United States.

Each of those three schools struggles to transport students and visitors to and from the region’s intercity transportation hubs. Syracuse University and Cornell University run their own shuttles to and from SYR at the beginning and end of each semester and holiday break. Syracuse’s service is free, but tickets for Cornell’s service cost $30. Otherwise, Syracuse University simply suggests taking a cab to travel between SYR and the university, or taking Centro between the RTC and the university. Ithaca College offers no transportation to SYR. Both Ithaca College and Cornell suggest that those who need to get either to or from SYR or the RTC can book a ride with the Ithaca Airline Limousine, a private transportation service that can make up to eight runs between Syracuse and Ithaca every weekday and costs $85 for a one-way ticket or $130 for a two-way ticket.

The Syracuse Transit System Analysis (STSA) also identified the need for improved transit service to both the RTC and SYR. The STSA selected the route from Syracuse University to the RTC as a ‘transit improvement corridor’ because of the presence of jobs, carless households, and demonstrated demand for transit along the route. The STSA also recommended the creation of a shuttle service running every half hour between SYR and the RTC to serve airport passengers and employees.

Additionally, other travelers arriving in the region by bus, train, or plane will benefit from improved transit from the intercity transit hubs to destinations such as convention centers and hotels in each city.

Transportation Between Cities:
Centro and Cortland Transit already provide limited intercity transit for commuters. Commuters from Cortland County can catch an express bus to Syracuse from Centro’s Park-N-Ride facility in the Village of Tully. Centro also provides commuter service from both Oswego and Auburn to Syracuse. Cortland Transit runs a commuter service between Cortland and Ithaca.

26% of all workers in Ithaca, Cortland, and Syracuse commute by some mode other than a personal vehicle (public transit, bike, taxi, or on foot). Improved intercity transit between these cities would improve economic opportunity for these workers and encourage intercity commuting. There are 1.3 jobs per household in both Cortland and Ithaca, but only 1.0 jobs per household in Syracuse. Despite the high proportion of jobs to households, median household income is lower in Ithaca ($30,436) than in Syracuse ($31,881) or Cortland ($40,025). At the same time, housing costs are much higher in Ithaca (median property value: $220,000) than in either Syracuse (median property value: $88,800) or Cortland (median property value: $94,200). Workers currently living in Ithaca could more easily move to Syracuse or Cortland for the low housing costs, while people in Syracuse could apply for the relatively more plentiful jobs in Cortland or Ithaca.

Improving transit between Ithaca, Cortland, and Syracuse will increase opportunities for collaboration between the seven colleges and universities in those cities. Currently, each school in Syracuse allows some students to take classes for credit at at least one other school in the city, and Cornell University maintains an exchange program with Ithaca College. Faculty from the seven schools also frequently collaborate on research. Similar programs and cooperation will be possible between schools in different cities when they are connected by reliable frequent transit.

Adjunct professors provide one example of how improved economic opportunity is connected to increased collaboration between the region’s colleges and universities. 26% of the 5,727 faculty employed by the six schools are non-tenure track part time instructors. These adjunct faculty are paid several thousand dollars a semester for each course that they teach. The people who work these jobs often need to teach classes at multiple schools in order to make ends meet. The proposed transit service would broaden the opportunities available adjunct faculty in Ithaca, Cortland, and Syracuse by allowing them to teach more easily at multiple schools in different cities. This would make the region more attractive to recent graduates of all those schools, and it would help the region retain a highly educated workforce.

Additionally, there are unique resources in each city–such as Syracuse’s hospitals and specialized medical centers–that will attract riders from elsewhere along the proposed transit line.

Existing Service
Currently, two intercity bus lines (Greyhound and New York Trailways) and three local transit authorities (Centro, Cortland Transit, and TCAT) provide service along the corridor. Many of these services overlap, making it possible to travel a great distance within the corridor by making transfers at important junctions. Here is a table of all connecting weekday service currently available within the corridor.

connectingservice

Although these different bus services can take a rider pretty far, it is very difficult to travel the corridor’s entire length. New York Trailways offers service once a day in each direction between Ithaca and SYR, and it is possible to use regional transit to travel from Ithaca to SYR at only one other time on any weekday. Here is a table of all connecting weekday service from Ithaca to SYR currently available within the corridor.

endtoendtimetable

Using currently available service, a rider trying to get between SYR and Ithaca will have to pay either $16.50 or $17.00 to take a ride lasts between 100 and 205 minutes.

Proposed Transit Service
Stops:
The proposed transit service should run from SYR to the Ithaca Bus Station and make intermediate stops at the RTC, the Centro Bus Hub, Syracuse University, the Cortland County Office Building (Cortland Transit’s main transfer point), and Cornell University.

Stops at the Centro Bus Hub, Cortland County Office Building, and Ithaca Bus Station will enable residents of all three cities to transfer between Centro, Cortland Transit, TCAT and the proposed transit service. By making these stops, the proposed service will be able to transport people to and from their homes.

Stops at SYR, the RTC, and the Ithaca Bus Station will enable people travelling to or from the region by train, plane, or bus to to transfer between those transportation modes and the proposed transit service. By making these stops, the proposed service will connect the region to a national transportation system.

Stops at the Centro Bus Hub, Syracuse University, Cortland County Office Building, and Cornell University will enable people to reach the centers of employment in all three cities. By making these stops, the proposed service will be able to transport people to and from their jobs.

The service could also make additional stops at the Village of Tully, Tompkins Cortland Community College, and/or ITH in order to allow local transit authorities to eliminate some existing service and redirect funds to support the proposed service.

Mode:
The proposed transit service should operate as either a bus line or rail line. Much of the infrastructure necessary for either mode is already in place, and each option has its own advantages and disadvantages.

As a rail line, the proposed transit service would follow a roughly 70 mile long route from SYR to the Ithaca Bus Station with intermediate stops at the RTC, the Centro bus hub, Syracuse University, and Cortland. The line would follow 48 miles of existing rights-of-way from the RTC to Cortland and in Ithaca, and it would require 22 miles of new rights-of-way between the RTC and SYR, and between Cortland and Ithaca.

A rail line could run at high speeds unimpeded by traffic. Amtrak trains run at speeds between 46 and 67 mph on similar stretches of track elsewhere in Upstate New York. At those speeds, a train would complete the entire run between SYR and the Ithaca bus station in 67 to 91 minutes. That’s significantly faster the 120 to 150 minutes that a bus would take to make the same run.

railspeedcomparison

As a bus line, the proposed transit service would follow an approximately 68 mile route from SYR to the Ithaca Bus Station with stops at the RTC, Centro Bus Hub, Syracuse University, Cortland County Office Building, and Cornell University. The line would follow I-81 from SYR to exit 11 at Cortland, making stops at the RTC, the Centro Bus Hub, and Syracuse University on the way. From exit 11, the line would follow NY-13 through Cortland and Dryden before taking NY-366 to Tower Road and Cornell University. From Tower Road, the line would continue through Ithaca to the Ithaca Bus Station.

Operating the proposed transit service as a bus line eliminates the need to purchase, build, or negotiate for any inch of right-of-way. This would make the proposed transit service much less expensive upfront. Using existing roadways also would allow the transit service to stop at Cornell University, a stop that is inaccessible to rail because of the steep grade that separates the university from the Ithaca Bus Station. Finally, because existing roadways can accommodate two-way traffic, multiple buses could run along the line simultaneously, allowing for more frequent service. This would be impossible for a rail line because almost all of the existing rail infrastructure is single-tracked, meaning trains running in opposite directions cannot pass each other.

Schedule:
A rail service could make the round-trip in 180 minutes. Running continuously from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm, a train could make five round-trips between SYR and the Ithaca Bus Station. At higher speeds, a train could make the round-trip in less time, allowing for more runs in the same amount of time.

A bus service could make the round-trip in 270 minutes. Running continuously from 6:00 am to 7:30 pm, 2 buses could make six trips from SYR to the Ithaca Bus Station and six trips from the Ithaca Bus Station to SYR. More buses could make more runs in the same amount of time.

Operating on these or similar schedules, the proposed transit service would facilitate intercity commuting, and it would facilitate transfers to other intercity buses, trains, and planes.

Fare Structure:
The proposed transit service should charge zone-based fares with significant discounts for multi-ride or monthly passes. This fare structure will allow the proposed transit service to compete for both regular commuters and for riders travelling between cities infrequently. Here are two potential ways to divide the proposed transit line into zones with one-way fares that can compete with all currently available transportation options.

farestructure1 farestructure2

Conclusion
A transit service between Ithaca, Cortland, and Syracuse would benefit the entire region by connecting centers of population, employment, local transit, and intercity transportation. Such a service would build on the region’s strengths by facilitating travel to and between its many academic and research institutions, making them more attractive to students and scholars from outside the region, and more accessible to workers from within the region.

The main obstacle to establishing this service is cooperation. The service would run through, and require the support of, three different counties, three different cities, three different transportation authorities, many more towns and villages, and several large private institutions like Cornell University and Syracuse University. Very few of these entities have regular cause to work together, but this transit service has the potential to get them to cooperate on a single project, to start thinking of each other as part of a unified region with common goals and interests. That would be a big change in Upstate New York, and it would be the best thing this transit service could do.

 

For more reading on this proposal, click the links below:
Learning from OnTrack
University Students and Public Transportation
Uniting Communities through Transit

SMTC’s Plan for Better Bus Service

Transportation

On November 2, the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council held its final public information session about the SMART1 study. That study looks at the possibility of improving bus service along specific corridors in the Syracuse metropolitan area. It is the first of multiple planned studies that will recommend specific service improvements to Centro based on the Syracuse Transit System Analysis that SMTC produced as a supplement to NYSDOT’s work on I-81.

SMART1_Public_Meeting_3_Presentation_11217-page-001

The SMART1 study focuses on bus service from Eastwood to OCC and from the train station to SU–these are two of the six high-priority transit corridors identified in the STSA. For each corridor, the SMTC analyzed low, medium, and high levels of improvement. The low level increases the number of buses running along existing routes, builds new shelters at the bus stops, and gives buses priority at traffic lights. The medium level runs even more buses along new routes in the corridor, removes some bus stops, builds new shelters at the remaining bus stops, and buys new buses. The high level does everything that the medium level does, but it also puts in bus lanes where streets are wide enough to accommodate them.

For both corridors, SMTC recommends that Centro build the medium level of improvement. That means buses running every 10 to 15 minutes along James St/South Ave, and along Salina St through downtown to SU. It means no transfer for people riding either route crosstown. It means new buses and shorter travel times. That’s all good.

It’s also good that the SMTC hasn’t recommended the high level of improvement. In order to build bus lanes between SU and the train station, Centro would have to run the new bus route along Solar St instead of N Salina St. That’d cut down on travel times, but it would send the bus through a bunch of planned and existing luxury apartment complexes instead of through the Northside. Given that choice, it’s better that the bus run through a neighborhood where it’s needed, even if that means it has to deal with some traffic.

Now it’s up to Centro to act on these recommendations. It’ll require a lot scheduling of work–the SMTC’s recommendations don’t go into details like when the buses should actually run, how these new routes will connect with existing routes, or what should happen to minor routes like the 21 or 28 that run through these corridors but serve other neighborhoods too. It’ll require a lot of cooperation–some of these improvements, like priority at traffic lights, can only come if Centro works with City Hall to make them happen. It’ll require a lot of money–those new buses and bus shelters will cost money up front, and Centro will have to hire more drivers and pay for more repairs if it’s going to offer more frequent service. Those are all steep hills to climb, but they’re well worth climbing. Call Centro and tell them you want these changes. Call City Hall and tell them you want them to help Centro make these changes. Call your state reps and tell them you want the State to help pay for these changes.

Centro:
315-442-3400
CEO@centro.org

Mayor Stephanie Miner:
315-448-8005
Mayor@syrgov.net

Common Council:
Councilors’ Contact details are available here

Senator John DeFrancisco:
315-428-7632
jdefranc@nysenate.gov

Senator Dave Valeski:
315-478-8745
valesky@nysenate.gov

Assemblymember Bill Magnarelli:
315-428-9651
MagnarW@nysassembly.gov

Assemblymember Pam Hunter:
315-449-9536
HunterP@nysassembly.gov

The Mayor’s Temperament, and What’s Best for the City

Power

On Tuesday November 7, the City of Syracuse elected Ben Walsh to be its next mayor.

Voters chose Walsh, in part, because of his temperament. Just about all of the people who endorsed him brought it up. On November 5, the Post-Standard published the results of a poll showing that twenty percent of voters were going to choose the candidate with the best temperament for the job.

People liked that he’s not combative. Helen Hudson, President-Elect of the Common Council, called Walsh a “calm, quiet spirit,” and Common Councilor-Elect Joe Driscoll said that Walsh could “put aside the often petty, personal bickering and division that has too long dominated our collective efforts.”

This is an issue because Mayor Stephanie Miner’s personal relationships with County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Governor Andrew Cuomo have soured over the last eight years. People in Syracuse have watched it happen, and they’ve seen cooperation between the City, the County, and the State fall apart on projects like the new SU stadium, consolidation, and State Aid to Municipalities. The City is almost out of money, and it’s going to have to work with both the County and the State to avoid bankruptcy. People wanted a mayor who wouldn’t let personal animosity get in the way of that work.

There’s a mistake in this line of thinking, though. The City hasn’t failed to work with the County and the State just because the Mayor doesn’t get along with the County Executive and the Governor. All three governments answer to voters with conflicting interests, and those interests are more important that the personal feelings of any elected official.

Take the stadium proposal from back in 2014. Mayor Miner asked the State for money to replace all of the City’s water mains because the constant breaks were draining the City’s budget and messing up people’s lives. Governor Cuomo is worried about the effect that State taxes have on New York’s business climate, so he doesn’t like to spend State money on projects that do not help that image. He proposed that the state would pay to build a new stadium for SU on vacant state-owned land in Syracuse, with the hope that the development would generate enough sales tax revenue to pay for the City’s water main repairs. That plan didn’t work for the City, though, because it would have increased infrastructure costs immediately without any guaranteed increase in tax revenue because SU doesn’t pay property taxes. So the project never went forward because the State and the City had mutually exclusive goals, but people acted like the problem was really that Mayor Miner doesn’t get along with Governor Cuomo.

This pattern has repeated in a lot of big local projects: the City demands what it needs, the County and the State demand something different, cooperation breaks down, and it all gets blamed on personalities.

Syracuse has real needs. They’re deep and painful to look at, and they make everything more complicated, but whoever’s Mayor is going to have to demand that they’re met. Ben Walsh won 54% of the City-wide vote, but the the six districts with the highest concentrations of public housing, the six districts where those needs are greatest, he only got 20%. The people living in those places aren’t looking for a Mayor who’ll make quick deals with the County and the State. They need a Mayor who’ll advocate for them when the Governor tells Syracuse to “fix your own pipes,” or when the Suburban-Dominated Consensus Commission tries to turn Syracuse into a “debt-district.” They need for Ben Walsh to do what’s best for them, even when that means rejecting the County and the State.

Working for the Whole Neighborhood

Community

On Sunday October 22, the West Onondaga Street Alliance (WOSA) announced that it would repaint the railroad bridge that crosses over West Onondaga Street at the edge of Downtown Syracuse. Currently, that bridge highlights the Rescue Mission’s work feeding the hungry and housing the homeless on its campus between the train tracks and the Adams Street Expressway. It’s painted bright red with the words “Mission District” on one side and “Lives Change Here” on the other. Soon, the bridge will instead read “City-Gate,” a name that WOSA has made up for what it’s calling a “new” neighborhood.

wosanewtext

This stretch of West Onondaga Street is not a new neighborhood. People have been living in this part of town since 1824. A lot of the people who lived there over the years were very rich, but now a lot of the people living there are very poor. WOSA worries that all that poverty makes some people from outside of the neighborhood feel like they’re not “invited” into it. WOSA told the Post-Standard that, while the words “Mission District” focus people’s attention on homelessness, the words “City-Gate” will get them to think of something other than poverty when they pass under the bridge on their way out of Downtown.

But poverty isn’t a problem that goes away when you stop thinking about it. Making up a new name won’t change the truth that people living just southwest of Downtown face everyday. It won’t bring Nojaims back. It won’t fix up Blodgett. It won’t shorten SHA’s waitlist for rent vouchers, and it won’t cosign anyone’s mortgage. There are all kinds of real problems that have entrenched poverty in this neighborhood and in this City, and they’re what people need to be working on.

Until that work is done, the poorest members of the community deserve our full attention. That’s what it means to be a community–to recognize that my life is tied up with yours, so I can’t pretend that my good fortune is unrelated to your daily hunger. Attempts to cover up part of a neighborhood–or to pretend that you belong to a “new” neighborhood that doesn’t have the same problems as the old one–sever those ties. The result is a community that’s poor in spirit, no matter how rich any of its members may be.

Centro’s Proposed Weekly Pass

Transportation

On September 27, Centro proposed a new transit pass that would offer unlimited rides for seven consecutive calendar days. These new MAX passes would cost $20 ($10 reduced fare), equivalent to the cost of paying the full cash fare two times each day of a five-day work week.

Centro had sold 7-day unlimited passes for $15 prior to 2015. The transit agency stopped offering unlimited passes in order to save enough money to maintain its late-night and Sunday service during a budget crisis in the Spring of 2015. Since that time, the only way for people to get a deal on their fare has been to buy 10-ride passes for $18, 20-ride passes for $36, or 30-ride passes for $54. Centro also sells unlimited single day passes for $5.

The new MAX passes are definitely a good thing. For anyone who takes the bus at least 12 times a week, the $20 MAX passes will be cheaper than the cheapest option currently available–the multi-ride passes that price out to $1.80 a trip.

Unlimited passes like these also remove the stress of choosing which trips to make in any given week. An unexpected trip to the doctor won’t take away the fare that you’d intended to use to get to the grocery store. With unlimited rides, each extra trip you take makes the pass a better deal.

This benefits Centro as well, because part of their funding from the State is determined by the number of rides they provide. If these passes allow people to afford more bus rides, then Centro will receive more State funding automatically.

Although this is all good news, the MAX pass still won’t make transit as affordable in Syracuse as it is in Rochester or Albany.

transitfarecomparison

RTS and CDTA provide Rochester and Albany with more extensive service than Syracuse gets from Centro, and they do it while charging their riders less money. Syracuse should be getting better transit service for the price its people are paying. NFTA in Buffalo charges the same $2 cash fare as Centro, and they’ve got a subway to show for it.

An unlimited monthly pass would go a long way towards making the bus more affordable in Syracuse. Before that 2015 budget crisis, Centro had offered monthly passes for $60. If they reintroduce an unlimited monthly pass for something like $65 or $70, that would put a little more money in people’s pockets, and it would encourage more people to ride the bus. Hopefully, this weekly MAX pass is the first step towards bringing the monthly passes back.

Centro is hosting an information session from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm on Wednesday October 18 at OCPL’s Central Library. At 5:30 pm they’ll begin a public hearing. Show up, find out all the details, and let them know what you need out of your transit system.

The Real Reasons it’s hard to Run a Business on the Near Westside

Community

On September 12, the Post-Standard reported that Nojaim Brothers Supermarket, a 98 year old grocery store located in one of the City’s poorest neighborhoods, planned to close up shop. Within a week, the paper published several pieces analyzing effect on the neighborhood and Nojaims legacy in the community. Since that time, nothing has been put out, and it seems like Nojaims really might be on its way out.

That’s a shame. It’s a shame because the store is a good community member. It’s a shame because it’s well known throughout the county, showing people that good things happen in poor neighborhoods like the Near Westside. And it’s a shame because the people living in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the entire metro area should be able to walk to a store where they can buy healthy food for themselves and their families.

It hasn’t been enough for some people to note that this is a shame. Local luminaries have asked, sensibly, whether or not the community’s elected representatives could have done something to avoid this problem.

The Post-Standard mentioned competition from the recently opened Price Rite on South Ave when it broke the story. Within minutes, EJ McMahon of the Empire Center blamed Price Rite and the tax breaks it received from the City. The Post-Standard published a follow-up article developing this case. Republican mayoral candidate Laura Lavine agrees with this assessment, and says that it’s independent mayoral candidate Ben Walsh’s fault for helping make the deal that brought Price Rite to South Avenue. Every other news outlet that has reported on Nojaims closing has mentioned competition from the South Ave Price Rite and the tax exemptions that it received.

This is all very small thinking. Anyone seriously interested in the effects that local government policies have had on the ability of a business like Nojaims to make it on the Near Westside can’t just look back a few months. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside 62 years ago when it built the James Geddes Rowhouses to concentrate poverty in the neighborhood. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside 53 years ago when it turned West Street into an expressway and demolished the neighborhood’s business center. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside 42 years ago when it cut corners and built Fowler High School to be structurally unsound. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside 23 years ago when it wasted the opportunity that Ontrack provided to connect the neighborhood to major employers via rapid transit. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside 9 years ago, and again this year, when it declined to renovate Blodgett Elementary. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside a year ago when it built a police substation in the neighborhood but neglected to staff it with officers. Local government made it difficult to run a business on the Near Westside over, and over, and over again when it’s called for a grocery store to serve Downtown’s new residents even though Nojaims is less than a mile away from Clinton Square.

When you’re dealing with a history of government abuse and neglect that stretches over seven decades, it takes some severe myopia to just see back as far as April.

There are a lot of good lessons to learn from Nojaims difficulties. The grocery store got government help to build an expansion, but the associated mortgage payment was too expensive–government might have pushed the store to grow too big too fast. The City of Syracuse put in a signalized cross-walk at Otisco Street, but couldn’t do enough to slow the traffic coming down West Street to make the crossing feel safe–maybe NYSDOT’s plans for the corridor will have more success. Syracuse University had been doing a lot to bring investment to the area, but the new chancellor is less interested in community outreach and has pulled back–maybe we shouldn’t rely on private institutions to do the necessary work in our communities.

With all of those lessons worth learning, it’s too bad that the Post-Standard and the Empire Center and Laura Lavine have learned a worthless lesson instead. They see the bad thing happening in the Near Westside and have blamed it on the good thing happening on the Southside. They think that it’s too hard to get healthy food in two adjacent poor neighborhoods, so we might as well not even try. They see the status quo as unfortunate but intractable–worth talking about but not worth fixing.

That’s not good enough for this City. Syracuse is facing some big challenges, and it needs a Mayor committed to making life more liveable in all of its neighborhoods, a press that calls for the changes that will make that happen, and it needs critics capable of showing the real causes of the City’s problems as well as actual solutions. If the leaders of the community understand what’s really going on and act intelligently, the City can fill the hole that Nojaims is leaving in the Near Westside, and it can build neighborhoods where people can find healthy food within walking distance.

The Threat of Consolidation Undermined the Shared Services Proposal

Power

On Monday September 11, Onondaga County held the final public hearing on its shared services plan. After that hearing, the County amended the plan. The new draft includes only one item of cooperation between Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse–a joint application for Medical Insurance for employees of the County, the City, and the City School District.

This is a pretty shallow agreement coming on the heels of two years of public debate about the possibility of merging City and County government. Beginning in 2014, the Consensus Commission began its work on a proposal for government consolidation in Onondaga County. In 2015 the Central New York Regional Economic Council included such a merger in its successful application to the Upstate Revitalization Initiative. in February of this year, Consensus released its final report recommending more than forty different ways that local governments could save money by sharing services. The most explosive recommendation was to dissolve the City of Syracuse, transfer its powers and assets to the County, and maintain the old city line as the boundaries of “debt district” responsible for payments to the Syracuse City School District’s pension fund.

Ask about the wide gap between those ambitious proposals and the small ideas that made it into the plan’s final draft, and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney will point out that this shared services proposal is distinct from the efforts of the Consensus Commission and the Regional Economic Council. Every County in New York State was required to write a shared services proposal as a result of legislation passed along with this year’s state budget. A City-County merger can still occur separately through a local referendum.

It’s telling, though, that even the Post-Standard and citizen groups like Uplift Syracuse were confused about the relationship between shared services and consolidation. The community has been reading similar reports on both types of proposals for years now–lists of government services that could be made more efficient if administered at a higher level accompanied by estimates of potential savings. The same politicians offered the same rationales for both consolidation and sharing services.

The people pushing shared services in Onondaga County–namely County Executive Mahoney and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo–missed a chance to show that their ideas could work. They muddled their message so badly that the modest shared services plan became identified with the politically toxic proposals for consolidation, and that doomed the discussion from the start.

That’s too bad, because the City and the County should work together on certain things. Economic development is one example. That’s something that City leaders could get behind, but not when they have to reassure their voters that suburban politicians aren’t trying to undermine City communities.

The shared services debacle should be a lesson to the half dozen people running for the mayor’s office. There’s a narrative in this election that Syracuse just needs someone nicer–that a lot of the City’s problems stem from Mayor Stephanie Miner’s bad relationship with the County Executive and with the Governor. That narrative assumes that all the responsibility for those relationships rests with Mayor Miner–it doesn’t. All three politicians answer to their own constituencies, and too often the County Executive and the Governor have ignored the Mayor’s position when pushing some policy or proposal. Unless the next mayor plans to just roll over, he or she is going to have public disagreements with both the County Executive and the Governor.

Bus Service at the Community Library of Dewitt and Jamesville

Transportation

On August 20, the Community Library of Dewitt and Jamesville will open its brand new building at 5110 Jamesville Road. This new location is two miles away from Shoppingtown Mall where the library had been a tenant for 55 years. On August 2, the Post-Standard reported that Centro would not divert an existing bus line to service this new location. Wendy Scott, the Dewitt library’s executive director, told the Post-Standard that “we would welcome a bus route to the new library and plan on revisiting the issue after we open at the new location.”

DewittLibraryTransit

This should be obvious, but Centro can’t just change a route because the library’s moving. All of its routes are timed in relation to each other in order to facilitate transfers. If Centro extends the 62 route to service the new library, then that bus would miss the lineup at the end of its return trip to the Hub, and people trying to get across town would have to wait until the next lineup to make their transfers.

It’s also unreasonable to expect Centro to run a bus line down Jamesville Road just to serve the library. Transit only works when it links lots of riders with lots of destinations. Buses travel along Erie Boulevard and Genesee Street because lots of people need to get to the many destinations along those corridors. Jamesville Road doesn’t have enough destinations to support a bus line, and adding a single destination like a library is not going to change that.

Since Centro can’t just change its bus schedule to cater specifically to the library’s needs, the library should have moved to a location along an existing bus line. This is something bus riders understand. When you rely on the bus to get around, decisions about where to live or where to work or where to hang out depend on the presence of a bus line–it’s non-negotiable.

Director Scott doesn’t see bus service as something that the library needs. She sees it as a luxury–an option that she would like for the library to have, but not one that’s important enough to really drive big decisions. It certainly wouldn’t have been impossible for the library to find a location along an existing bus route–every single one of the other 31 libraries in Onondaga County is accessible by bus–but access for bus riders took a backseat to other concerns when the library’s board decided to move to Jamesville Road.

As a public institution committed to the empowerment of the entire community without regard to income, the library is its most effective when it’s accessible to the entire community–especially those members of the community who can’t afford to buy books or access technology on their own. These are the same people who also can’t afford cars. It may be that “less than 2 percent of library users said they take the bus to the library,” but that’s no reason to make the library inaccessible to that two percent. If only 2 percent of library users need wheelchairs, that wouldn’t be a reason to remove the handicap ramps. The library’s decision to move to a spot inaccessible by bus was a decision to exclude part of the community from a valuable public resource, and it was a mistake.

The Difficulty of Finding Compromise on I81

Planning

This past week, both Central New York’s federal and state legislators have made noise about I81. The region’s congressional delegation sent a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo asking that NYSDOT not focus on money when deciding how to replace the current viaduct. Then, Senator John DeFrancisco and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli held a contentious press conference where they claimed that traffic would get really bad if NYSDOT doesn’t spend the money to rebuild I81 along its current path through Downtown.

This decision should be about more than money. New York State spends a lot of money on cosmetic frills, and it shouldn’t turn cheap when it comes to a project as important as this one. Governor Cuomo and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand have repeatedly said that once the community unites behind a proposal, they’ll find the money to build it.

Unfortunately, money isn’t what’s gotten in the way of consensus on this project. The problem has been that different interest groups want mutually exclusive results from whatever NYSDOT builds after it demolishes the current viaduct. It will be difficult for any design to satisfy city resident groups who want to improve the area around Almond Street, businesses who benefit from proximity to interstate exits, suburban politicians who want to keep vehicle traffic concentrated in the City, and University Hill interests who want easy interstate access and room to expand.

So far, NYSDOT’s plans to replace the viaduct have split these four interest groups into two camps. Plans for a new tunnel or viaduct keep traffic concentrated on I81’s current path and have satisfied suburban politicians and interstate businesses. However, because these plans include lots of on/off ramps and a 4-way interchange between I81 and I690, they also use up a lot of land around Almond Street, sever local streets, and make the area undesirable for development. Those problems have led city residents and University Hill interests to oppose the viaduct and tunnel options.

Plans for a street-level option make the area around Almond Street more attractive and maintain easy access to University Hill from the interstate, satisfying city residents and University Hill interests. However, routing through traffic around the City also sends more cars to the suburbs, and it diverts traffic from businesses located along I81’s current route between the I481 interchanges (Dunk and Bright, DestinyUSA, 7th North Hotels).

Senator DeFrancisco and Assemblyman Magnarelli represent interests on both sides of this divide, and they hope that a hybrid tunnel/street-level option can unite the community. The ‘hybrid’ idea first popped up in 2014 when DestinyUSA began pushing the Access Syracuse Plan.The-Access-Syracuse-Plan-MODIFIED-v2-8-25-14

This plan maintained I81’s current path almost exactly, but it buried the interstate between Van Buren and Townsend Streets. North of Townsend Street, the interstate continued as a depressed highway with bridges carrying State, James, Willow, and Salina Streets over top of it. North of Salina Street, the interstate linked up with its current depressed route and continued unchanged. The real compromise of this plan was that it eliminated much of the interchange between I81 and I690, thus freeing up all that land around Almond Street and keeping the entire local street grid intact.

However, there were serious problems with the Access Syracuse Plan. It didn’t meet NYSDOT’s standards because it eliminated the I81/I690 interchange and because it maintained the current viaduct’s tight curves. It is also unlikely, that University Hill interests would accept the plan because, in order to maintain the local street grid, it removed exits and decreased interstate access to the Hill. This will be a problem for any tunnel, according to Doug Mankiewicz of the University Hill Corporation: “Tunnels are generally good for getting through things… They’re not so good at getting to things, so if the goal is to get to downtown, to get to University Hill, to get to the lakefront–the basic problem with tunnels is, when you’re trying to get to something, they’re not so good.”

As it stands, everyone is waiting for the final report from WSP-Parsons Brinkerhoff, the independent firm that the State hired to revisit the tunnel option. All politicians involved seem to hope that the report will contain a detailed plan for a tunnel that will satisfy all local parties. However, since that would mean a tunnel that doesn’t interchange with I690, such a proposal would not meet NYSDOT’s standards for the project. It’s also unclear how a tunnel could both provide easy access to University Hill while also maintaining the local street grid, since the on/off ramps of any exit would cut into city streets.

Whenever the report does come out and it becomes clear that no option can meet NYSDOT regulations and satisfy all local interest groups, then we’ll see what everybody really thinks. Are Senator DeFrancisco and Assemblyman Magnarelli looking to discredit the street-level option in order to justify the cost of maintaining I81’s current path? Will Senators Schumer and Gillibrand get funding for a project even if it doesn’t make everybody happy? Does Syracuse University care more about access to the interstate or developing an ‘campus-city’ to attract new students? Can local interests outweigh NYSDOT’s regulations in the final design?

Regardless of any of this, public pressure can force politicians to do the right thing. Call them all up and tell them what about this project matters to you.

Governor Cuomo’s Progressive Credentials and Upstate’s Forgotten Cities

Power

As New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo positions himself for a 2020 presidential run, both mainstream and left-leaning news media have published a bevy of opinion pieces about his troubled relationship with New York State progressives. These pieces argue that the Governor’s headline progressive policies are just for show–that he only pushes things like marriage equality once they’re politically expedient, or that that he designs policies like the Excelsior Scholarship to get national attention without really helping the poor.

The common diagnosis is that the Governor is building a sort of radical-centrist resume. He balances policies important to voters in urban liberal New York City against those important in rural conservative Upstate New York. The idea is that his progressive policies will appeal to voters on the urbanized coasts while his work in Upstate New York will appeal to those in the post-industrial Midwest.

The obvious tension is that Upstate New York is not purely conservative nor is it purely rural. New York City makes it easy to forget the size of Upstate’s cities, but Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo each have more people than the biggest city in ten other states. Rochester and Buffalo are each larger than the biggest city in seventeen other states. These are urban places that reliably elect democrats. They have more in common with the coastal metropolises than they do with the rural parts of America’s interior. When Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie visited Upstate for the first time in 2015, he marveled at our cows, but he also said “particularly in the urban center, the problems that are facing Syracuse are the problems that I face back home in the Bronx when we talk about education, when we talk about poverty.”

The Governor has a lousy record on these issues in these urban centers. In 2014, he mused about expanding the Buffalo Billion program to other upstate cities, but when Mayor Stephanie Miner proposed to spend the money on water infrastructure instead of tourist attractions the Governor responded by saying “fix your own pipes.”

In the Governor’s 2015 State of the State address, he tried to say that urban schools don’t have a money problem by pointing out that the Buffalo School District receives a lot of state aid, choosing to ignore the fact that Buffalo is so poor that state aid doesn’t close the gap in total spending per student between BSD and richer suburban districts.

In 2015 when Centro was going to cut its Sunday and late-night service to fill a budget gap, the Governor’s initial reaction was to say “I didn’t know anything about it. The state is funding it at the same amount we funded it last year. Somebody must have cut it. Not me,” as if flat funding isn’t the same as a cut when expenses are rising, and as if public transportation hasn’t been underfunded for decades.

In 2016, Preet Bharara revealed that the Governor’s tourism-based economic development plans for upstate cities have less to do with replacing the jobs that left with Carrier, Bethlehem Steel and Kodak, and more to do with enriching campaign donors like Cor.

Through 2017, the Governor has pushed city and county governments to consolidate. He’s pitched the initiative as a way to reduce property taxes, but it would also dilute city residents’ representation in local government and transfer power away from communities of color.

Governor Cuomo treats upstate cities with a mixture of condescension and contempt. The region is important to his political narrative so he showers it with money, but all those subsidies go towards banner projects that do not address the underlying issues that erode long-term city residents’ quality of life. Ask for an aerial gondola or performing arts venue, and he’s all in. Point out failing bus service or inadequate water infrastructure, and he’s either ignorant or uninterested. That’s the real hole in the Governor’s progressive resume.