The news on the MTA is getting grimmer. Today, Gov. Paterson said that the agency should not delay enacting fare hikes or service cuts at its Wednesday board meeting,  suggesting that an MTA rescue package may not pass this week or any time soon.

The details of the planned cuts were finalized today. The MTA Board’s Finance Committee voted to advance to the full board a budget that will increase fares on subways, buses, and commuter rail lines by about 25% and slash service (as described on the MTA’s website here). Long Island Bus faces the highest fare increase – 75%.

In testimony, TSTC executive director Kate Slevin said that time was running out and warned that “If Albany doesn’t act, we begin the vicious cycle of transit disinvestment, where fares increase, service declines, our economy suffers, and safety and reliability are undermined for future generations.”

The MTA’s full board will vote on the doomsday budget this Wednesday. At the same time, Transportation Alternatives will be conducting an MTA Telethon from 8am to noon at the south side of Union Square Park in Manhattan. At the telethon, TA staff and volunteers will connect transit riders to their representatives in the State Senate, which hasn’t gotten on board with a compromise plan supported by Gov. Paterson and the State Assembly.

As the video above shows, a telethon won’t raise enough money to rescue transit riders. Only Albany can.

After the jump, the specific fare increases that were approved at the Finance Committee meeting:

New York City Transit

• Increase pay-per-ride subway and bus fares to $2.50 from $2. Express bus fares would go to $6.25 from $5.
• 1-Day Unlimited would go to $9.50 from $7.50. 7-Day Unlimited would be $31, from $25. 14-Day Unlimited would increase to $59, from $47. 30-Day Unlimited would increase to $103 from $81. 7-Day Express Bus Unlimited would be $51, from $41.

Long Island Bus

• Increase base fare to $3.50 from $2. Unlimited MetroCards would no longer be accepted.

Long Island Rail Road

• One-way fares throughout the system would increase by 20-28.6%.
• Weekly and monthly tickets would increase by 25-28.6%.
• CityTicket would increase to $4, from $3.25.

Metro-North

• One-way, ten-trip, weekly, and monthly fares on trips to and from Manhattan would increase by 23.4-28.7%.
• Trips on the New Haven, Harlem, and Hudson Lines not beginning or ending in NYC would increase by 17.7-29.5%.
• Non-NYC trips on the New York sections of the Port Jervis and Pascack Valley lines would increase by 21.4-71.5%.
• Fares within Connecticut would not increase. [check – starting and ending within CT?]

Bridges and Tunnels

• Tolls at MTA facilities would increase by approximately 26-30% across all categories of toll (cash, E-ZPass, truck, etc.).