Oct
28
MTA gearing up for second round of budget projections
ByFor an unprecedented second time this year, the MTA will soon be revising its budget projections, according to a report in Metro. Earlier this year, the MTA updated its financials to project a $900 million budget deficit. As the markets have crashed since that number was released, the agency will meet again to pour over the books in two weeks. What emerges from that meeting will not be good news for the MTA’s bottom line or passengers hoping for a small fare increase next year. This will be ugly.
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Ben, two positive factors in the midst of the crapfest: (1) ridership, and thus theoretically fare receipts, is up; and (2) fuel prices have retreated sharply from the highs, which should reduce costs.
Lastly, the looming end of the real estate bubble, and a recession in the building trades could reduce capital construction costs.
And I am VERY hopeful that the coming Democratic tidal wave on 11/4 will mean more and better funding for transit infrastructure.
I am much more worried about service cuts than fare increases. I can struggle through the latter; the former is simply not acceptable with how crowded the system already is.