Buffalo Residents Join NYSTEA

The NYSTEA steering committee completed its upstate NY tour last week in Buffalo.  This most recent town hall meeting was co-sponsored by local groups: Citizens for Regional Transit, Green Options Buffalo, and Buffalo Carshare.

These organizations and others in the community (notably VOICE Buffalo and Push Buffalo) have been working on local, state and national transportation issues for quite sometime.  Overwhelmingly the audience of over 45 community residents who attended the meeting was very familiar and organized around issues of transportation equity.

Buffalo is struggling with many of the same issues that we have heard in other parts of the state:

• Suburban sprawl
• Transit cuts and fare increases
• Population loss and economic growth
• Public input in decision making

Transportation has been key to the success and growth of Buffalo as a city starting with the development of the Erie Canal in the early 1800’s.  The 1950’s era of suburbanization, facilitated by the building of the interstate highway system, brought to Buffalo routes like U.S. 190 and Route 33, which permanently divided neighborhoods by dramatically changed the physical and socio-economic layout of the city.  The sprawl not only has increased greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel dependency, and unsafe streets, but also has directly led to Buffalo being one of the nation’s top 10 most segregated cities.

Buffalo also struggles with high poverty rates. According to US Census data over 1 in 4 residents live below the poverty line.  With over 30% of Buffalo’s population not having access to a car and 77% of the transit users in the city “transit dependent”, mass transit cuts and fare increases have a disproportionate effect on communities of color and low-income.

The region’s transit service provider, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, carries 94,000 passengers per day with their NFTA Metro subsidiary, totaling 8.9 million miles traveled every year.  The agency is working hard to address many issues related to access and affordability, but with declining local, state, and federal revenue, they are expecting more budget constraints in the coming years.

Community organizations and leaders who were at the meeting are a strong voice for a more pedestrian friendly, pro-transit, sustainable and fair Buffalo moving forward. NYSTEA hopes to continue our partnership and advance both federal and state policies that will get us closer to that shared vision.  A special thanks to our partners in Buffalo and all those who attended.