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Statement On A Possible Fare Hike and Service Cuts MTA
Board Meeting Must transit fares go up? Does service have to be cut? Is there a better way? Today, the debate starts for real. To begin with, the riding public needs a much fuller picture of MTA finances. Current ridership remains strong despite an economic slowdown and the aftermath of September 11th. As a result, transit agencies are well ahead of budget, as your numbers show. Is it finances or politics that's driving the call for raising fares and/or cutting service? Has the MTA done everything it can to cut administrative expenses and eliminate waste? Or is the real deal that you will adopt a whopping fare hike to help balance city or state budgets? For example, will Mayor Bloomberg win in his request to have the MTA take over the now-private Queens bus lines - sticking the MTA and it riders with the $150 million price tag now paid by the city and state? To address these concerns, the Straphangers Campaign has called on the city and state comptrollers to audit your books. (See letter to New York State Comptroller McCall here.) Next, you need to listen to your riders. In just October and November, members of the Save the Fare Coalition collected more than 30,000 names on electronic petitions against a fare increase; nearly 12,000 have signed through our web site, www.straphangers.org. Their message is loud, clear and affecting. In a time of recession, a fare hike would hurt badly. As one Queens rider wrote: "As a city employee, I can't see another fare hike. It's as if the paycheck I receive, I'm just giving it right back. And as always it mostly affects low-income families because they are the one's on public transportation." Finally, Governor Pataki and state legislature need to consider alternatives to before the MTA votes fare hikes and service cuts. One strong candidate is restoring the commuter tax to meet transit needs. A strong case can be made that earmarking the proceeds for transit would directly benefit commuters: It could prevent fare increases or service cuts on the Long Island Rail Road, MetroNorth and city transit, to which two-thirds of MetroNorth riders and three-quarters of LIRR riders switch. Added proceeds from a commuter tax could also fund commuter rebuilding projects, such projects as connecting the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal and MetroNorth to Penn Station. For
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