New York, NY —

New York voters get to decide next month whether the state will borrow billions of dollars for transportation projects ranging from subways to highways. But as WNYC’s Beth Fertig reports, the Transportation Bond Act has gotten little attention. Until now.

REPORTER: The transportation bond act is a $2.9 billion package for projects including the Second Avenue Subway, new subway and railroad cars, and tunnel lighting. Things commuters would certainly care about. And yet, it seems most riders in Grand Central Terminal have never heard of the bond act.

WOMAN: No I really don’t know.

WOMAN: I think it’s for better transportation?

REPORTER: Do you know what the bond act proposal is, ever heard of it?

WOMAN: No, I haven’t heard of it.

REPORTER: Sorangeo Saldana of Manhattan has just been handed a glossy, color pamphlet stating Vote Yes for Proposition 2. It says the Transportation Act would spend $2.9 billion on new subways, buses and track improvements while also improving roads and bridges. And it boasts of endorsements by Mayor Bloomberg and other politicians including Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer.

The fliers are being distributed by the Vote Yes coalition of labor, environmental and transit advocates. The group also paid $100 thousand for posters in subway and railroad stations. Attorney Gene Russianoff from the Straphangers Campaign unveiled the new campaign yesterday.

RUSSIANOFF: This is the ad. It’s pretty straight forward. It has a picture of people hanging on to a bar in the subways without seats, and we have one over here that shows how crowded the system is it says Vote Yes for a Seat on the Train.

REPORTER: The ads don't say the $2.9 billion would come from issuing bonds. Critics - notably the Citizens Budget Commission - oppose additional borrowing on the grounds that the state is already in too much debt. But supporters of the bond act say New York would lose billions of dollars in federal funds for the Second Avenue Subway and for linking the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central if the bond act fails. They also say that if the state doesn’t issue the bonds, the MTA would have to raise fares and borrow more money. Beverly Dolinksy heads the MTA’s Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, a rider advocacy group.

DOLINSKY: If it doesn’t pass the MTA will be forced to make cuts in its core capital program and will be forced to borrow more money and neither of these options is acceptable.

REPORTER: And if voters are skeptical about the MTA’s finances, following the news that there’s a 900 million dollar surplus and holiday discounts, Dolinsky says that’s a separate pool of money that’s largely going to pay down debt.

A similar bond act failed to pass five years ago by a narrow margin. Transit advocates don’t want to lose again. They note that the 2 point 9 billion dollar proposal is evenly split between projects benefiting upstate and downstate – with money for roads and bridges in addition to trains. And they’ve joined forces with business and labor leaders while raising money to promote the bond act. Elliot Sander is Co-Chair of the Empire State Transportation Alliance.

SANDER: We do have an active campaign statewide, we are doing ads in Western NY and elsewhere. We’ve raised $1.5 million overall. This is just a component, we have an active campaign throughout the state.

REPORTER: But with millions of bus and subway and commuter rail riders relying on the MTA, Sander and others acknowledge they’ll be doing much of their advertising in New York City. They also plan to send out 700 thousand mailings closer to election day drawing attention to Proposition 2, because they’re worried most voters won’t notice it buried deep within their ballots.

LEAFLET MAN: Vote for better subways on November 8th, fix the MTA

REPORTER: As it is, they have a hard time getting attention. Mike Jean of Manhattan has just learned about the Bond Act while walking through Grand Central Terminal.

JEAN: The guy just gave me this flier right now, I’m reading it I’m going over it.

REPORTER: As he reads the description, he says he’ll go along with the plan – even though it means the state will have to borrow more money.

JEAN: I mean if it has to be done it has to be done.

REPORTER: That’s the attitude transit supporters are counting on. For WNYC I’m Beth Fertig.