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Pressure on Fares The New York Times The Staten Island Ferry would run less frequently during rush hours, broken traffic signals and signs would take longer to repair, the East River bridges' cables would go dark at night and street parking prices would rise to $1.50 an hour, up from $1, in many parts of Manhattan. But the deepest and most potentially damaging cuts would be less immediately visible: up to $200 million a year in direct city subsidies to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, placing more pressure on the authority to raise fares again soon. An increase in base subway and bus fares to $2 from $1.50 was approved last month to help the authority repair a budget gap of about $1 billion. Part of the subsidy the city would like to cut, almost $100 million, comes in the form of payments to private bus companies that operate several lines in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Manhattan. The city and the M.T.A. are now in negotiations for the authority to take over the lines and assume their financial responsibility. The other part of the subsidy to be cut would come from a pot of about $158 million the city is required, under law, to pay to the authority for the daily operations of buses and subways. The state matches that amount of money, and state leaders would have to approve a plan to release the city from all or part of its responsibility. Advocates for mass transit riders warn that a reduction in the city's contribution could lead to similar reductions from the state, too, placing even more pressure on the fare box. In 1994 and 1995, during a previous budget crisis, both the city and state cut their operating subsidies to the authority, forcing subway and bus service cuts and contributing the pressure for a fare increase to $1.50 from $1.25, which was approved in 1995.
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