Voters reject bond.

Referendum would have raised $3.8B for transportation

It wasn't supposed to be this way. The $3.8 billion transportation bond referendum that was sent packing by New York state's voters Nov. 7 should have been the final piece of the financing puzzle for the five-year infrastructure overhaul touted by city and state officials.

Instead, the industry and the politicians must put their heads together to decide how to fill the hole that remains in the $34.2 billion capital program.

"It's back to the drawing board," said Dick Anderson, president of the New York Building Congress, on Wednesday. "I spoke with the (state) Department of Transportation and we are committed to carrying out this program, but we need to fill that $3.8 billion gap."

The plan is split nicely between the city and the state, with each spending $17.1 billion. The state would use the money for various highway, rail and port projects, while the city's money would go for capital improvements involving the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

According to the unofficial returns on C-SPAN.org Thursday, the final tally was 1,441,250 against, 1,393,074 in favor, a 2% differential of 48,176 votes. The 2.8 million votes reported means that fewer than half of the New Yorkers who voted weighed in on the measure, since more than six million votes were cast statewide for president.

The measure failed despite the backing of some of the biggest names in the business. Gov. Pataki loaned an advisor to the campaign. Howard Rubenstein did the PR. It had the backing of both the Straphangers and environmentalists. But it was for naught.

"For New York to be the kind of city it wants to be, and to be the kind of state it wants to be, we need to revitalize our infrastructure," said newly senior Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer Thursday. "I supported this bond because it was for a capital project -- transportation -- and I think it's very unfortunate that it went down."

The burden of replacing the money will most likely fall on those who rejected it, namely the taxpayers. While the bond's defeat was seen as a victory for opponents of increased state debt, the money will now likely come from New Yorkers in the form of a gasoline tax and increased drivers' license fees, according to Anderson. "Transportation should pay for itself."

Key projects in the New York City area that are covered under the five-year state plan are as follows:

* $1.99 billion to buy more than 1,100 new subway cars to replace existing cars and to expand the fleet by 200 cars. When coupled with car purchases made in 1995-1999 capital plan, the fleet will increase by 7 percent to support ridership growth

* $1.28 billion to rehabilitate 64 subway stations to create a more secure and customer-friendly passenger environment. This will bring the total number of funded station rehabilitations to 215, nearly half of the total 468 stations

* $1.05 billion for planning, environmental review, final design, engineering, and to initiate construction of a full-length Second Avenue subway from 125th Street to lower Manhattan 

* $645 million to improve access to LaGuardia Airport 

* $490.6 million to buy 1,200 buses to replace existing buses and expand capacity by 9 percent

* $225 million to renovate the Long Island Rail Road's Jamaica Station and integrate Airtrain, the Port Authority's new JFK Airport access system

* $70 million to reconstruct the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Terminal

* $20 million for construction of a new Metro-North station at Yankee Stadium 

* $11.5 million to create a pedestrian and bike path on the east bank of the Bronx River 

* $30 million to safety on the Henry Hudson Parkway between Dyckman Street and 174th Street

* $32.2 million to rehabilitate the Grand Central Parkway between Bell Boulevard and Jackie Robinson Parkway 

* $40 million to install Intelligent Transportation Systems equipment, including roadway sensors and variable message signs, throughout the Van Wyck Expressway, Long Island Expressway, Grand Central Parkway, and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

* $6.6 million for the design and construction of several Park-n-Ride lots on Staten Island

* $20.7 million to buy 69 buses fueled by Compressed Natural Gas 

* $5 million to develop and provide passenger terminal facilities for private ferry operations at Pier 79

The victory for fiscal prudency was especially surprising in a state that, on the same ballot, elected Hillary Clinton to the U.S. Senate and went overwhelmingly for Al Gore.

"There was certainly no unanimity in the state," said Anderson. "There was, I think, too many misgivings on the part of people who were worried about increasing the state's debt load.

"But transportation is crucial to keep our economic growth alive. There's a better way to raise this money. We just have to come up with the better way.