Transportation Alternatives supports the City Council's resolution calling upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to include funds for a full-length Second Avenue subway in its 2000-2004 Capital Plan.

The transit conditions on the East Side of Manhattan are nothing less than deplorable, and without a full-length Second Avenue Subway, they will soon become a full-blown nightmare for East Side residents and businesses. Trains on the Lexington Avenue subway line now routinely run in excess of 100% capacity during rush hour, and the Lexington line has the lowest on-time rating of all New York City subway lines. Passengers suffer unsafe conditions because of crowding on the subway platforms, and the crowding during rush hour exceeds MTA's guidelines for comfort and efficiency. An estimated 12,000 new morning peak period riders will be added to the Lexington line once the link between the Long Island Rail Road and Grand Central is completed.

The East Village and the Lower East Side currently have no subway service, and residents must suffer as much as a 20 minute walk to get to already overcrowded subway stations. The lack of adequate transit service has hindered the economic growth of the region, and has limited the mobility of its residents. It is safe to say that the Lower East Side and East Village are the most transit-deprived areas in Manhattan.

MTA's truncated Second Avenue subway proposal from 125th Street to 63rd Street will not relieve the severe overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue line, will not provide subway service to the Lower East Side and East Village, and in general ignores the synergistic benefits of an integrated and far-reaching plan. The needed solution is a full-length Second Avenue subway from the Co-op City in the Bronx to Downtown Brooklyn, extending along the LIRR's Brooklyn branch to Jamaica and JFK Airport. Additional links would be made to Grand Central Terminal, the Lower East Side, Brooklyn, and Southern Queens. This plan would dramatically improve the drastic conditions on the East Side, and would also benefit residents of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx by providing new links for existing lines.

It is embarrassing that New York City still has such glaring deficiencies in its transit system. It is time to fully correct past errors. Transportation Alternatives calls upon the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and MTA chair E. Virgil Conway, to include the full Second Avenue subway proposal in the MTA's coming capital plan. A full Second Avenue subway line is a crucial and long-overdue link in New York City's regional transit development.