Three Mobility Wishes for the Mayor of New York City
- The Transportation Alliance
- 18 hours ago
- 4 min read
By: Matthew W. Daus, Esq., President, International Association of Transportation Regulators
As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to take office, transportation is once again at the center of the conversation about how the city functions and whom it serves. In October, the University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) at the City College of New York released its 2025 NYC Mayoral Candidates Transportation Policy Primer & Voter Guide[1], offering an objective, side-by-side comparison of the major candidates’ platforms on transit, street safety, congestion pricing, and other key topics.
Now, the UTRC has followed that analysis with a companion publication, Three Mobility Wishes for the Mayor of New York City[2]. This new report asks a simple question: what do the city’s mobility stakeholders want from the next administration?
For the first time, the UTRC invited peer reviewers of the Mayoral Voter Guide—representing leading transportation nonprofit advocacy groups and industry associations—to identify their top three priorities for the upcoming administration. Each organization contributed insights on mobility from its distinct vantage point, covering topics such as congestion pricing, sustainability, freight logistics, and enhancing accessibility for people with disabilities. Despite their diverse perspectives, several common themes appeared in their feedback, which are summarized below. For a comprehensive review of all discussion points, and the organizations that took part in this report as well as their specific mobility recommendations, please refer to the report at https://bit.ly/44m9wV2.
The prominence of public transit, and the Mayor-elect’s pledge to make the City's transit buses "fast and free," made it unsurprising that transit improvements appeared as a top priority among many contributors. Over the past four years, despite the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) being managed by the state and the Mayor having only 4 of the 17 appointments to the MTA Board, the Adams administration made significant impacts on transit policy.
These included expanding eligibility for Fair Fares, a half-price transit discount program for low-income New Yorkers, and completing bus speed improvement projects in all five boroughs. Several contributors to this publication agreed that the City should distribute greater funding and attention to making buses faster, broadening the reach of Fair Fares to serve more New Yorkers, and adding more Bus Rapid Transit routes.
Another key area of focus for contributors was the essential role that taxis and for-hire vehicles play in supporting the City’s economic vitality. Over the past decade, the taxi and for-hire vehicle industry has faced disruptions from the emergence of app-based ride-hailing services and fluctuating yellow taxi medallion values. In recent years, further uncertainty was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing insurance costs, and the implementation of congestion pricing. Since taking office, the Adams administration worked to stabilize the industry by instituting a program that delivered over $470 million in debt relief to more than 2,000 taxi medallion owners needing help. Further initiatives launched to help drivers purchase vehicles that are accessible to passengers who use wheelchairs.
The panelists’ feedback pointed to the need for enhanced financial support for vehicle owners aiming to make their vehicles wheelchair accessible, the creation of policies to improve driver compensation, expanded opportunities for new entrants into the industry, and support for the establishment of a driver-run insurance company to address escalating insurance costs. Feedback was also provided by some in the taxi and for-hire vehicle industry on the use of autonomous vehicles in the City, including the concerns for job security for professional drivers.
Improving road safety on New York City streets also played a prominent role in feedback from mobility partners. Participants in the report credited the work that the Adams administration advocated for at the state level including expanded use and hours for speed cameras, the passage of Sammy’s Law, street redesigns, and the innovative use of speed limiting technology on City-owned vehicles. Stakeholders, advocates, and experts surveyed called on Mayor-elect Mamdani to adopt an ambitious street redesign agenda, including significant expansion of Sammy’s Law 20 MPH Safety Zones, piloting of low-traffic neighborhoods, and recognizing that streets can do more than move cars and trucks but instead also serve pedestrians, bus riders, and bicyclists.
Numerous organizations also expressed concerns about the implementation of anti-idling laws and the Citizens Air Complaint Program. Under the Adams administration, citizen-submitted violations rose significantly – exceeding 120,000 in 2024 – with some individuals participating more frequently due to the financial incentives associated with the program. While transportation operators, including bus and truck carriers involved in this report, support efforts to reduce emissions and promote cleaner air, contributors noted that the current process for issuing and adjudicating violations would benefit from refinement. Suggestions included developing mechanisms to reduce unintended operational impacts, ensuring equitable treatment between private carriers and public-sector fleets, and considering regulatory flexibilities for carriers demonstrating meaningful progress toward cleaner and safer mobility.
If the Mayoral Voter Guide captured campaign promises from the top down, Three Mobility Wishes for the Mayor of New York City provides a bottom-up blueprint drawn directly from the City’s transportation community. It offers policymakers a synthesis of viewpoints from across modes and interests, united by a shared interest in improving mobility across the five boroughs to make New York safer, fairer, and more efficient.
Balancing these priorities will be one of the Mamdani administration’s greatest challenges and opportunities. As the UTRC report concludes, these “three wishes” are more than a list of requests – they are an invitation for partnership with City Hall, the transportation industry and advocates, and the communities they serve. The City’s mobility stakeholders have a clear message for Mayor-elect Mamdani: listen, collaborate, and keep New York moving.
[1] https://utrc2.org/publications/2025-nyc-mayoral-candidates-transportation-policy-primer-voter-guide