The outrage surrounding the MTA’s proposal to stop subsidizing free NYC student MetroCards has gotten a swift response from NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and state officials.  In a press event last Tuesday, the Speaker, along with the Straphangers Campaign, [...]]]>

Speaker Quinn appeared at a Tuesday rally in support of free student MetroCards.

The outrage surrounding the MTA’s proposal to stop subsidizing free NYC student MetroCards has gotten a swift response from NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn and state officials.  In a press event last Tuesday, the Speaker, along with the Straphangers Campaign, unveiled a four-point plan which they said would provide $171 million, enough to fund free student MetroCards and reverse planned systemwide service cuts.

The largest piece of the plan is reallocating 10% of federal stimulus funds from the capital budget to help plug the gap; the funds have not yet been spent.  The plan would also keep $50 million in operating funds in the operating budget, instead of using it for capital projects as the MTA has planned.  As Tri-State has said before, using capital dollars for operating expenses is neither a sound nor a sustainable funding practice — but given the harm that would be caused by cuts to transit, paratransit, and student transit, it may be a needed emergency measure.

Importantly, Speaker Quinn acknowledged the City’s responsibility in providing transit funds (specifically for student travel) and pledged to make this a “priority” in spring budget negotiations with the Bloomberg administration.  Much attention has been given to the state’s underinvestment in the transit system, but less attention has been directed towards NYC. Although the City continues to fund NYC Transit, it does so at 1995 levels despite the steep growth in transit ridership, and ensuing strain on the transit system, over the past 15 years.

Gov. Paterson said over the weekend that he would make “a positive announcement” on student MetroCards within two weeks. AMNewYork also reported that assemblymembers are tackling student MetroCards, with a “good outcome” predicted by Assm.  Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester).

However, state officials appear less willing to provide the funds that would reverse service cuts. Most of the attention from elected officials has focused on restoring school MetroCards, but service cuts would also prove devastating to many members of the public. When the state passed MTA funding legislation last year, transit riders bore a 10% fare increase — a sacrifice which was supposed to allow them to avoid service cuts.  Now it is the State, City, and MTA’s responsibility to keep their end of the deal.

Photo: Hagen/NY Daily News.

TSTC's Kate Slevin spoke with bus riders in Hempstead yesterday.

In response, advocates from [...]]]> While MTA transit riders are facing draconian reductions in service once again, LI Bus riders are having a particularly rough year. They have faced service cuts and/or fare hikes not once, not twice, but now an unprecedented three times.

TSTC's Kate Slevin spoke with bus riders in Hempstead yesterday.

In response, advocates from Tri-State, Vision Long Island, and NYPIRG dropped flyers this past week at the Mineola Intermodal Center and the Hempstead Terminal to encourage bus riders to contact Nassau County Executive-Elect Ed Mangano, State Senator Craig Johnson, and Governor Paterson and urge the County and State to come to their aid.

Mobilizing the Region readers surely know that LI Bus’s funding problems are deeper and more systematic those of the rest of the MTA system.

But where there is crisis, there is also opportunity.  If the new County Executive wants to differentiate himself from the previous administration — which failed to even index the County’s contribution to LI Bus to inflation — he should revisit County Executive Suozzi’s 2010 budget and restore the $1.4 million cut to the bus system.  Mangano should also begin reaching out to the MTA and key State leaders to ensure that a sustainable and mutually agreed upon funding solution is created for LI Bus.

In the meantime, we encourage Nassau County residents to take a minute to email County Executive-Elect Mangano, their state representatives, and Gov. Paterson and urge them to help LI Bus riders avert this third threat of service cuts and fare hikes.

Photo: Ryan Lynch/TSTC.

Today, despite protests citywide, the MTA Board approved a package of drastic service cuts and an end [...]]]>

Top: Students and community activists protested in East New York against a plan to end the student MetroCard program. Bottom: NYC Council Speaker Quinn and Councilmember Vacca held a press conference with advocates at City Hall.

Today, despite protests citywide, the MTA Board approved a package of drastic service cuts and an end to free student fares.

The funding package, which also includes a 10% pay cut for non-union employees, was passed to close a $383 million gap that suddenly appeared after the state cut aid to the MTA, revenue from the payroll tax came in under the state’s projections, and a state court upheld an arbitrator’s decision to award raises to unionized workers.

In a statement, the Tri-State Campaign outlined five actions that elected officials and the MTA can take to stop the cuts:

• Increase City support to the MTA. The City’s contribution to the system has remained stagnant for years. And it is NYC residents, especially schoolchildren, who will be hurt the most under this plan.  (It’s worth noting that the costs of student fares have increasingly been borne by the MTA.)

• Push for federal transit operating support in the jobs bill recently announced by President Obama. Preliminary reports put transportation expenditures in the bill at $48 billion. The House of Representatives is discussing the bill this afternoon and is considering allowing a small percentage of this money to be used for transit operations. The MTA has strongly opposed federal assistance for transit operations in the past, but the agency’s current situation proves that it is time to reconsider this policy. As the largest transit operator in the country, the MTA’s support would be powerful.

• Find real cost savings. New MTA Chairman Jay Walder has promised to “take the place apart” to reduce costs, and has cited $500 million in overtime spending, a large rise in the cost of construction, and 5,000 administrative positions as unacceptable practices. The MTA must aggressively seek cost savings, and elected officials must support those efforts.

• Consider innovative tolling methods. A 2007 Tri-State Transportation Campaign study found that variable tolling on the MTA crossings could raise new revenue, save drivers time, and help stop fare increases or service cuts.  Variable tolls charge more during congested times of day.  That analysis is available at http://www.tstc.org/press/2007/081607_MTA_tolls.pdf.

• As a last resort, “flex” 10% of the agency’s federal stimulus money from capital projects to operations. This would amount to nearly $100 million and help stop the service cuts. This is an unsustainable stopgap measure that will only postpone the problem, and the Campaign does not generally support capital dollars being used for operations. However, this is a dire situation that may require emergency action.

Walder said today that the budget should be considered preliminary due to the speed with which it was put together  and that the agency would take another look at the package of service cuts in January. But clearly, without a new approach, the agency will pursue a plan that balances the budget on the backs of transit riders and schoolchildren.

“The riders don’t question that you need to take action to deal with the shortfall,” said William Henderson of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee. “Instead they question the choices you have made.”

Ultimately, however, a long-term funding solution must be enacted. Along with the operating deficit, the agency is facing a $10 billion shortfall in its 2010-2014 capital program. The impacts of not investing in transit is a history lesson not to be repeated.

The earliest the cuts would go into effect is June.

Image: Screenshots from NY1.

Gov. Paterson and the New York State Legislature agreed on a transit funding plan today that they estimate will generate $2.26 billion for the MTA and prevent deep service cuts and [...]]]>

The MTA's funding saga may have catapulted transportation into the "top tier" of issues that the media and public care most about.

Gov. Paterson and the New York State Legislature agreed on a transit funding plan today that they estimate will generate $2.26 billion for the MTA and prevent deep service cuts and layoffs, while holding the fare increase to 10%, instead of the planned 21-30% increase. The package reportedly includes a 0.34% payroll tax in the MTA region, a taxi surcharge, and increases in vehicle registration, drivers’ license, and car-rental fees. (View the bill here). However, there are questions over how much money the package will actually raise.

The deal does not include tolls on currently free East and Harlem River bridges, which would have been a natural revenue source for the agency’s capital or operating needs. However, the package reportedly funds the first two years of the MTA’s 2010-2014  capital program, which makes it superior to an earlier plan announced this week that did not address the issue at all. After that plan was announced, advocates and union and business leaders sent a letter saying they would withdraw support for the payroll tax if an MTA package did not fund capital needs. Legislators also took considerable criticism from the NY Daily News, NY Post, and Newsday editorial boards for not funding a full capital program.

In a statement, the Tri-State Campaign congratulated legislators for stopping service cuts and fare hikes, but said they must continue working to completely fund the next MTA capital program.

The package also leaves the future of Long Island Bus unclear. It does not appear to include regional bus reforms that would have had the MTA accept full financial responsibility for the agency. LI Bus’s deeply flawed funding structure, which splits responsibility between the MTA, Nassau County, and the state, was the reason that Nassau County bus riders were singled out for a 75% fare increase under the “doomsday” budget. State Sen. Craig Johnson, who deserves credit for getting behind the package and stopping what would have been disastrous fare increases for many of his constituents, should insist that LI Bus riders get equal treatment.

The New York State Senate’s latest plan, announced earlier this week, has now arrived in bill form, though it has not been introduced yet. Here are the draft bill text and [...]]]> Update 4/28: The Senate plan was voted out of the Transportation Committee yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile, the MTA’s budget projections have officially worsened.

The New York State Senate’s latest plan, announced earlier this week, has now arrived in bill form, though it has not been introduced yet. Here are the draft bill text and the draft sponsors’ memo.

The plan includes a graduated payroll tax ($0.34 per $100 in the 12-county MTA region except in Orange, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties, where the tax would be $0.25 per $100). Instead of the $2 bridge tolls envisioned in the State Assembly’s MTA rescue plan, the Senate plan would increase driver’s license and learner’s permit fees, raise vehicle registration fees, add a $1 surcharge to taxi trips, and add a 5% tax to car rentals.

The bill would also add two Legislature-appointed members to the MTA board, consolidate the board chair and CEO positions (as proposed in the Ravitch plan), and give the State Legislature “line-item veto” powers to strike projects from proposed MTA capital programs as well as the ability to commission an audit of the MTA.

According to the Daily Politics, the bill will probably be introduced this week, making a vote possible by next week. But it does not appear that the bill actually has the votes to pass the Senate. More importantly, it is not clear that the plan raises enough money to fill the MTA’s budget gap and meet the agency’s long-term needs.

In a statement, the Empire State Transportation Alliance, a coalition of which TSTC is a member, said that “It is critical that the final plan address the MTA’s long-term capital needs … Tough choices have to be made and ESTA strongly maintains support for a plan that shares the burden amongst drivers, businesses and transit riders as the most equitable option.”

Compounding the bad news is an MTA memo, reported on today, which suggests that the agency’s budget gap has increased by hundreds of millions of dollars as the plummeting economy eats away at the agency’s fare revenue and the dedicated taxes that support much of its operations. The April 27 meeting of the MTA Board’s Finance Committee should make it clear just how bad the agency’s situation is.

A 75% fare increase for Long Island Bus, and a 23% LIRR fare increase with deep service cuts, aren’t fair. The Tri-State Campaign, Long Island ACORN, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, Able-Ride, and others brought that message to the office of [...]]]>

Protesters told Sen. Craig Johnson to "Earn our trust, support the bus!"

A 75% fare increase for Long Island Bus, and a 23% LIRR fare increase with deep service cuts, aren’t fair. The Tri-State Campaign, Long Island ACORN, the Long Island Progressive Coalition, Able-Ride, and others brought that message to the office of State Sen. Craig Johnson in Garden City Park this morning.

“We’re horrified,” LIPC’s Lisa Tyson said. “This will destroy the Long Island public transportation system.”

Sen. Johnson.

Representatives from Able-Ride and community group CURB were there to protest a 71%  fare increase for Able-Ride, Long Island Bus’s paratransit service. Although the MTA canceled a plan to set NYC’s Access-a-Ride fares at double the bus and subway fare, Long Island’s Able-Ride fares will still increase to $6, from $3.50.

After the rally, representatives from the protesting groups met with Sen. Johnson’s chief of staff and asked that the senator support a transit bailout plan that treated LI Bus riders fairly. He agreed, and said that the senator “was not the biggest fan of the payroll tax” proposed as part of the Ravitch plan but that the worst-case scenario would be to pass no plan. He also said that an MTA rescue would likely be separate from the budget.

Throughout the region, rider anger over planned service cuts and fare increases seems (for once) to have convinced state legislators that they must act to rescue transit riders. If they don’t, it’ll be Long Island’s bus riders who are hardest hit.

Today the MTA Board passed broad service cuts and steep fare increases that will gouge deep ruts in the region’s economic health and quality of life. Albany [...]]]>

Just how broad are the MTA's planned service cuts and fare hikes? The documents describing them, distributed at the board meeting, are 384 pages long.

Today the MTA Board passed broad service cuts and steep fare increases that will gouge deep ruts in the region’s economic health and quality of life. Albany desperately needs to act, and there is still time.

Now that the MTA has passed its doomsday budget, the agency must begin preparing the system for higher fares and service cuts in time for May 31, when the new fares will take effect. But if Gov. Paterson and the State Legislature can agree on a rescue plan before then, service cuts and fare increases will be canceled or rolled back.

In statements, the Empire State Transportation Alliance and the Keep New York Moving coalition called on state elected leaders to continue working, and Gov. Paterson said he was committed to rescuing transit riders.

So what form could an eventual rescue plan take? Several possibilities suggest themselves:

With the April 1 deadline for New York’s state budget fast approaching, state legislators could tackle the MTA problem at the same time. However, there’s a real danger that the Legislature will pass a short-term fix, like the State Senate majority’s plan, that restores service cuts but doesn’t fund the MTA’s long-term capital program.

Passage of a comprehensive plan in the State Senate may require Republican votes, as suggested by Gov. Paterson earlier this month. Many, including the New York Times editorial board, have singled out NYC Republicans like Sen. Andrew Lanza as potential coalition members. Long Island Bus riders face fare increases of 75%, making it imperative that Long Island legislators like Sen. Dean Skelos step in. The Straphangers Campaign’s Gene Russianoff and others have suggested that tying MTA funding to increased NYSDOT road and bridge funding, as has been done in the past, could win support from upstate legislators.

There are many paths elected officials can take, but only two possible futures. In one, state elected officials get behind a comprehensive, long-term plan that addresses the MTA’s operating and capital budgets and allows for continued investment in the region’s transportation network. In the other, they pass a half-solution or do nothing at all, and the system steadily deteroriates.

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 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.).