MTA Rescue Plan Elicits Muted Applause.

May 06, 2009 - 8:40am
by: Erik Engquist

Business and transit groups relieved at state’s agreement on a rescue package that limits fare increases to 10%, but concerned it’s only a short-term fix.

Local business and transit groups breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday as the state Legislature moved to approve a rescue plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

All are grateful that the 32 Senate Democrats finally reached consensus on a plan that will stave off service cuts and shrink a planned 23% fare increase to about 10%. But they recognize that it’s a short-term fix that probably won’t last more than two years, and maybe not even one.

“It’s important to recognize the victory. We have avoided what would have been the biggest fare hike in a generation and the most draconian service cuts in at least as long,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an anti-car advocacy group. “In this economy, getting $2 billion in new money is no small feat.”

But he said the $400 million in annual capital funding provided by the plan is just a fraction of what is needed to keep the system in good repair and fund new projects.

“The capital plan is still largely unfunded,” said Mr. White. “We’re going to be back at this juncture again, maybe even before the year is out.”

The Legislature’s package of new taxes and fees provides funding for two years of what is expected to be a five-year, $25 billion MTA capital plan beginning in 2010. Lawmakers are now hoping that the economy recovers enough to provide the tax revenue needed for the balance of the capital plan.

“I’m not sure that the MTA is really fixed,” said Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “It’s definitely a stopgap measure at best.”

Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business group, said, “The fact that there is a funding plan to maintain the transportation system for the next two years is a good thing.” But she said the Legislature should have put tolls on the East River bridges, as the Ravitch Commission suggested last fall, or enacted congestion pricing, which state lawmakers rejected in April 2008. Either measure would have reduced traffic congestion and provided hundreds of millions of dollars for enhanced bus service.

Indeed, while the new plan raises money for the MTA from motorists through increased registration fees, it does nothing to discourage driving.

“There seems to be widespread belief now that drivers do have to pay their fair share, and that in this plan, they don’t do that,” Mr. White said. He added, “A 10% fare increase in another environment would be a big fight. The fact that we’re even calling this a victory speaks to the unique and dire circumstance we find ourselves in.”

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

MTA Doomsday Budget Revealed The W and Z trains could be elimated along with major late night and midday reductions.

From: NBC news, NY, Updated 8:18 AM EST, Tue, Nov 18, 2008.
Photographs: A. Golden, eyewash design, c. 2009.

See ya later, W. No, not the President. The train.

Faced with a $1.2 billion budget deficit that's growing by the day, the MTA is considering doomsday budget cuts that would eliminate W and Z trains, and cut G, J, M train service in half, the Daily News reported today.

Bus service also would be cut and straphangers would face longer waits for the train during midday and overnight, The News reported, citing sources familiar the proposal. The MTA also would eliminate 1,500 New York City Transit jobs. The plan will be unveiled at the MTA’s monthly board meeting tomorrow.

"It's a nightmare on weekends if trying to go to Queens as it is,” Zack Frank, 26, an actor from Queens told The News. "The MTA should worry about strengthening what it's got, not cutting it."

Under the plan, according to The News, the MTA would:

• Shut down the W and Z lines.
• Eliminate the J-train express service.
• Cut the G, J, and M train service in half.
• Eliminate dozens of bus routes overnight and on weekends.
• Run subways less frequently between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• Increase the time between trains running between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.

From: BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE MOVEMENT

STOP THE FARE HIKE! ROCK THE MTA’S BROOKLYN “PUBLIC HEARING”

BAIL OUT RIDERS, NOT THE BANKS! Wednesday, January 28 – 5 PM New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge 333 Adams Street between Fulton & Johnson

Protest at the MTA hearing

DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE, THEN DEMONSTRATE INSIDE!

The MTA is bringing its panel of bankers and billionaires to Brooklyn -- its very own Farehike-apolooza -- tomorrow night for another so-called public hearing.

Like last week, the Bail Out the People Movement will be there to confront the Wall Street executives and rally the people who come out to the hearing. On January 14, BOPM turned the sidewalk in front of the Hilton into a “People’s Public Hearing,” where transit workers, students and activists rallied 100 people against the MTA. The entire demonstration then marched en masse into the hearing (see YouTube coverage below).

On Wednesday, the demonstration will also continue inside the hearing, with dozens of placards demanding that the MTA scrap its plans to make workers bear the brunt of its debt crisis.

The Times said yesterday that this year 1 out of 6 people will be unemployed this year, a figure which does not take into account the number among immigrant workers and others. Bank of America just got $20 billion more.

Now is not the time to be raising fares and cutting services. Now’s the time for the banks to use the billions they’ve sucked out of mass transit, the treasury and our labor -- and BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE.

NO FARE HIKES -- NO LAYOFFS! NO SERVICE CUTS -- NO BRIDGE TOLLS!
Wednesday, January 28 – 5 PM
New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
333 Adams Street between Fulton & Johnson

A,C, TO BOROUGH HALL -- M,R TO LAWRENCE STREET -- 2,3,4,5 TO BOROUGH HALL

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

MTA passes doomsday budget - Your fare is increasing & services are decreasing.

December 17, 2008 10:04 am
MTA passes doomsday budget

MTA board members said Wednesday they still hope for a bailout from Albany or Washington that might allow them to avoid the increases.

(AP) - The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has passed a 2009 budget that ultimately would raise subway and bus fares in New York while cutting service.

The agency says it needs to raise fare and toll revenues by 23% in order to plug a budget gap worsened by the global financial crisis.

Board members say they still hope for a bailout from Albany or Washington that might allow them to avoid the increases.

Details of the hikes and cuts won't be finalized until early next year.

Under the worst-case scenario, a single bus or subway ride could rise to $2.50, and a monthly pass could cost around $100. Service cuts would include the elimination of bus and subway lines in areas where there is either low ridership or a duplication of services.

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.