Westchester Insider: Rep. Jamaal Bowman Improves Transit for Westchester & the Bronx.

Dear neighbor, 

Many of you shared with me the importance of expanding access to transit in our district so that your daily lives would see material improvement. I took this seriously, and worked hard with all levels of government and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) to improve our infrastructure and transportation. 

I am so proud to announce that we have secured major game-changing transit investments coming to the Bronx and Westchester. Last week, after months of advocating for these improvements, Amtrak agreed to pay $500 million to build the line to Penn Access through the Bronx and up to New Rochelle. The MTA will also allocate $432 million toward rehabilitating Amtrak-owned tunnels under the East River that were damaged by Superstorm Sandy. What this means for our community is huge. 

This will create hundreds of good paying jobs for our neighbors, create a new train station for Co-Op City, and upgrade the New Rochelle station. It will also reduce commuting time by 1.5 hours daily from Co-Op City to Manhattan and by 2.5 hours daily for those commuting to Connecticut. We fought for Bronx and Westchester residents to have equitable access to transportation and this is a major step in the right direction.

High quality transit also means that our planet and communities thrive. Less time will be spent traveling on the train and more time will be spent with family, pursuing educational and career advancement opportunities, engaging with surrounding communities, and more. We will also reduce our carbon footprint by expanding transit access so that less cars are on the road. 

I am honored to have joined Governor Hochul, Senator Schumer, Mayor Noam Bramson and Mayor Bill de Blasio, along with my colleagues throughout New York to continue supporting this project. We will keep working to create transit justice and equity by collaborating to address your needs and championing investments at the federal level that make a difference in your life.

Please feel free to share what else our office can do to continue to build on this effort in order to make transit more accessible and affordable in our district. We enjoy reading your feedback, comments and concerns. Our work is to best serve you.

Happy Holidays,

 

Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16)