The agency is battling a $900 million budget deficit and hopes to make that up through increased fares and assistance through the city budget. The group plans to reveal its budget tomorrow. The problem?
According to the NY Times:
One blogger who watches the MTA body closely blames the officials in Albany.
According to the NY Times:
On Wednesday, the authority will unveil a preliminary budget plan for 2009 that calls for the fare and toll increases and outlines other measures to balance its budget, including more than $300 million in additional financing that the authority hopes to get from the city and state.
One blogger who watches the MTA body closely blames the officials in Albany.
This fare hike news boils down to one: Our elected officials should be funding public transit and making good on promises they made just six or eight months ago. But on Tuesday, they will once again get a free pass. New Yorkers are sure to pile on the MTA for its supposedly poor bookkeeping and its fare-hike deception, but the MTA is just a victim of a bad economy. Those running the agency aren’t happy to see fuel costs skyrocket, and they aren’t happy to see their budget deficit projections increase fourfold.
But the real blame lies in Albany as our elected officials — chosen by us but seemingly responsible to no one — yet again starve a public transit system vital to the economic health of both the New York Metropolitan Area and the entire state. Don’t forget those representatives when the fare hike comes along next summer. Don’t forget them each time you swipe your MetroCard, and don’t forget them ever time more money is deducted from your wallet. The blame for this fare hike news lies squarely on their shoulders.
4 comments:
I remember when the MTA discovered they had a surplus. That was fun until they "looked at the books again" and decided they need a fare hike.
Pile on all the fare hikes you want. I just want to know one thing: When will I be able to get to 116th Street without going to 137th Street first.
I want to know that, too! can you find out? when will we stop at 116 on saturday???????? (although last week the train did stop there)
Nice blogging Chris. Why read the Times? Maybe we're responsible for their 82% profit loss....
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