Bill Is Set on Transit Agencies For 3 States; Merger Sought

New York—State Sen. Thomas J. Mackell (D-Queens) said yesterday he will prefile a bill in the Legislature that would consolidate the functions of eight state and interstate transportation agencies.

Mackell, chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Inter-State Cooperation, said the bill would eventually lead to the creation of a Tri-State Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The agencies that would be joined under the new authority are the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, the Port of New York Authority, the Department of Marine and Aviation, the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority, the Tri-State Transportation Commission, the New York-New Jersey Transportation Agency, the Connecticut Transportation Authority, and a new transit agency now being created in New Jersey.

The tri-state authority, similar to one proposed by Mayor Wagner, would be more than a study group, according to Mackell, but would consolidate planning, financing and operation of mass transportation in the tri-state area affecting more than 18,000,000 people. In New York State, the authority would cover New York City, and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam with a total population of more than 11,000,000.

The bill is being pre-filed for study purposes only at this point, Mackell said, adding that it will call for a halt to the construction of highways and access routes to bridges so as to discourage auto traffic in favor of mass public transportation. For the bill to become law, it would have to be passed by the legislatures of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.