Mar
23
Paterson: Just raise the fares
ByWhile the MTA Finance Committee just voted to recommend a Doomsday budget with a 2.50 base fare, a $103 30-Day Unlimited Ride card and massive service cuts to the MTA Board on Wednesday, Gov. David Paterson has thrown in the towel for now. In a rather politically dangerous move, he urged the MTA to raise fares today. Facing inaction in Albany and a very stubborn State Senate, Paterson won’t blame anyone but recognizes the reality facing the MTA. The authority is required by law to balance its budget, and Paterson knows it. “I don’t think that the agency should delay any action,” he said earlier today. And so it goes.
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15 Responses to “Paterson: Just raise the fares”
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[...] during my appearance on his new cable-only 7 p.m. Nightly News show. With the MTA Finance Committee voting Monday to recommend the Doomsday budget to the Board at Wednesday’s meeting, that’s the question on everyone’s [...]
And I’m telling Paterson “It’s time for you to leave office.” Combining his lack of consistency on this and his 100+ taxes he was trying to impose on people who really can’t afford and shouldn’t have to pay for the state’s spending I would say it is time for a change. More and more, I don’t think he has a clue what he is doing!
I completely agree Paterson has proven is NOT qualified to be the governor of NY. He is not a leader.
The reality is that the legislature has never been willing to address this issue, no matter who was governor. You cannot blame Paterson.
That does it! I’m taking helicopters to get around from now on.
I don’t think this is inconsistent. Paterson has always maintained that the March 25th deadline is real. He’s basically saying that inaction bears consequences that can’t be put off any longer. The odd thing is that he didn’t single out the State Senate. Otherwise this would be good brinkmanship for our side.
The Governor is a joke and the MTA is a joke. Paterson just lost my vote, not to mention, the vote of everyone who ride public transit in and around the NYC Metro Area. This is a dark day for everyone who rides the rails. This is highway robbery, better yet, this is “The Great Train Robbery.”
Public transit is suppose to be affordable for everyone, and what Governor Paterson and the MTA did today is completely stupid to say the least. I don’t buy the idea that the MTA is out of cash, when the subways and buses in New York City are crowded everyday of the week.
I believe it is time that the riding public tell the governor to abolish the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or what I called the “Money Hungry MTA,” and either privatize the public transit system in the form of a “public-private partnership,” or have the board members be elected into office, rather than being appointed into it.
Yeah, who’s going to run this “public-private partnership”? AIG?
Gosh, that’s a really helpful comment for debate. What about naming actual examples of public-private partnerships, such as the Central Park Conservancy, or the Times Square BID?
The real point here, which the regular commenters on this blog continue to miss, is that the MTA is only in such a big budget hole now because for the last 100 years, whenever the subway operators (public or private) have wanted to increase revenue by raising fares, or decrease expenses by hanging tough on union contracts or cutting services, they’ve had to answer to politicians. Maybe if we privatized the subway, allowed the new company to raise fares (or off-load their pension obligations) as much as they needed to make a profit, and encouraged the growth of competing subway or other private mass transit concerns, the ensuing competition might bring about more choices and lower fares in the long term.
Hear here. I totally agree.
This thread is providing ample proof that people just don’t get it. First of all, Paterson doesn’t possess any sort of “magic wand” that can whip the big, bad MTA in shape in three days, in time for it to approve a balanced budget. Secondly, the current fare covers somewhere between one-half and two-thirds of the operating budget. The rest of the operating budget, and the entire construction budget (including maintenance, deferred and otherwise) is not covered at all. The MTA is “out of cash” by design, and without a politically-neutral, dedicated source of funding it will always be so. And as long as driving remains priced at less than its market value in NYC (free streets, free bridges, cheap gas), subway ridership will remain far less than comparably-sized systems worldwide while frustrated drivers sit in traffic trying to enjoy the “free” amenities the city provides them.
Paterson is a fool, as is the MTA and the government. I’m definitely not voting for Paterson in the next election.
As a Long Island Bus user (I don’t drive) who also has to commute into the city every day via LIRR, this absolutely makes my blood boil. If Senate doesn’t stop Doomsday from happening, I may be forced to move out of here for good. I refuse to take another LIB if they will not allow my monthly Metrocard to be used on the bus. I’ll just stay home if I don’t decide to leave NY. This is wrong and must not happen. I know the MTA is hiding billions from us. Their “we have no money” B.S. is just that – complete B.S.!
Many of us will be forced to leave NY for good if this happens (not just me). It will be the darkest day ever for us.
You know what’s just as foolish as Paterson/MTA/whoever else you want to rant about? The fact that you state that you “know the MTA is hiding billions from us.” Do you really think the MTA is hiding billions from us? Do you even realize that the last time the MTA was accused of hiding money, they were found innocent of it in court?
If the MTA were hiding billions, don’t you think they would use it to stave off service cuts and a fare hike? I can’t stand people who are still pushing this line. General public ignorance of the MTA’s problems is one of the leading reasons why the Senate isn’t acting.
People just automatically think there must be some stash somewhere. They don’t understand how much a billion dollars is and how hard it would be to completely hide that much money, especially for an agency whose financial dealings are almost completely transparent.
Ok, I’ll try this again, seeing as my last few responses have not come through:
I’m sorry if people here don’t like what I – or others – believe, but I truly firmly believe that the MTA isn’t in as much trouble as they’re making themselves out to be. Either way, we’re gonna suffer.
I’ll have to live with it, and soon enough, I’ll never ride the Long Island Bus again (as the Long Islanders are the ones who are to suffer the absolute worst).