CHART II AVERAGE HOURLY VOLUME VERSUS AVERAGE HOURLY SPEED [From Regional Plan News, report on the development of the New York metropolitan region, March 1966] am 6 8 10 noon 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 Lines indicates average speed; shaded blocks show volume of cars moving through central business district streets each hour. Central business district traffic is congested through the business day, not only when people come and go for work. Even though the number of cars moving through the streets declines in midday, there is actually less room in the streets, as evidenced by the fact that average speed also declines toward midday. TABLE 7.-Total expenditures on arterial highway facilities in New York City since 1933 Source: Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority: Arterial Progress, Nov. 8, 1965. 3,844 386.6 TABLE 8a.-Transportation in the 1965-66 expense budget, I 1 Includes estimated pension costs as well as share of department overheads (executive management and administrative services), where whole departments are not included. 2 Debt service roughly estimated in some cases, from categories which do not conform to departmental or program breakdowns. Where the column is blank, it may simply mean that no estimate can be made without further inquiry. TABLE 8b.-Transportation in the 1965–66 expense budget, II * In addition, $1,950,000 in parking revenue was allocated to the police department and $467,000 to the department of finance. TABLE 8c.-New York City highway-user revenues, broadly defined 1965–66 Share of State motor vehicle registration and license fees.... 13. 3 26.5 128.3 49.7 City highway expenditures (current+debt service), per table I____ Excess of expenditures--- Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I notice that since the mayor started, Congressman Bingham has arrived. Mr. Congressman, we are glad to have you. Sorry we felt it necessary to start before you got here, but we have a long schedule of witnesses and we have to move on as expeditiously as possible. Do you have a word by way of supplement? I understand you were going to present the mayor. STATEMENT BY JONATHAN B. BINGHAM, U.S. CONGRESSMAN FROM THE 23D DISTRICT OF NEW YORK Mr. BINGHAM. Thank you, Senator. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, as a former colleague and a sponsor of these bills in the House, I had been looking forward to introducing our mayor here to day, and am sorry that, because the planned schedule of witnesses was changed, I was not here in time to do so. I would just like to add a footnote or two, if I could, to what he has said in his very able testimony. I know how tremendously great is the effort that he is devoting to this task of trying to solve, among others, the great transportation problem that we have in New York City. It is cretainly true that the aid the Federal Government has been giving to highways is disproportionate to the aid it has been giving to public transportation systems. The mayor's description of the clogged highways in New York City is certainly not exaggerated. I can only add the note that the Long Island Expressway, which is perhaps the worst of them, has been now named "the longest parking lot in the world." That description of the way traffic moves, or rather does not move, on the Long Island Expressway is not much of an exaggeration. The sad thing that happens is that, no sooner are new expressways built with the aid of Federal funds, than they become clogged-it is kind of a vicious circle. This has been true, for example, in my county in the case of the Cross Bronx Expressway. My feeling is, and I think it is shared by many in New York City, that we should be doing more for public transportation both in the way of helping with operating expenses and in terms of helping with development and improvement of facilities. Here, I should like to mention the fact that Senator Tydings and I last year introduced bills that would authorize communities to use some of the Federal funds for highways for the improvement of public transportation. Senator Tydings' bill was S. 2339 and mine was H.R. 10126. Just one final point, Mr. Chairman. I know that you have a heavy schedule and I appreciate your giving me this opportunity to say a few words. I think it is fair to say that the transportation system of a city such as New York is of importance to the national economy. Indeed, the whole economy of a city of the size of New York is important to the national economy and if New York is strangled because of the inabil ity of people to get to and from work in a comfortable and reasonably economical fashion, that has an adverse impact on the national economy as a whole. I think that, among others, is a reason why Federal aid is justified in these circumstances. Finally, I would like to say that while we miss having the present mayor in the Congress-I enjoyed working with him there last yearit is a pleasure to welcome him to Washington today and I certainly wish him all the best of luck with his programs and his endeavors. Mayor LINDSAY. Thank you. Senator SPARKMAN. Thank you very much. Mayor LINDSAY. Mr. Chairman, I have already indicated in letters to Congressman Bingham and to the House of Representatives. the city of New York's strong support for Congressman Bingham's bill, H.R. 10126 that he has just referred to. Senator SPARKMAN. Mr. Mayor, I presumed you wanted these various exhibits printed in the record. Mayor LINDSAY. I would like to have that privilege. |