Two controversial actions have characterized much of TfL?s work in its early days. In March, TfL awarded contracts for the first large-scale Congestion Charging scheme in a major western city. All cars will be charged ?5 per day ($7.50) to enter the central area of London during business hours. In early May, amid heated controversy, the national government decided to proceed with a controversial plan to turn over responsibility for the London Underground to a ?public-private partnership.? These 30-year contracts would transfer the responsibility for all day-to-day maintenance and capital works to two private consortiums, while maintaining the responsibility for the operation of trains in public hands. The Mayor and TfL have adamantly opposed the national government?s plan to privatize key elements of the Underground before it is handed over to TfL.

Jay is well known to many in the New York area from his work at the MTA, where he began his career as a budget analyst in 1983 and was appointed Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer a decade later. In 1995, he joined the faculty of Harvard University?s John F. Kennedy School of Government where his teaching and research interests were in the areas of transportation, infrastructure development, and municipal finance. His publications include an annual report on the United States budget with Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and numerous case studies on budgeting and infrastructure finance. He served as a Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore during the 1999/2000 where he researched the development of privately funded infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. While at Harvard he has undertaken transport consulting work for a number of organizations, including the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the MBTA and the New York City Partnership.