Second Ave. Sagas

Thirty days hath Albany

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

While New York sits in fear of fare hikes to come, straphangers can spy a slight glimmer of hope at the end of the fare hike tunnel. The MTA isn’t planning on preparing to implement the 23 percent fare hike and the massive service cuts approved this week until May. That still gives Albany until the end of April to act.

“We really have the month of April before people get impacted,” MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander said this week. “You could reverse some of these actions in May, but they will already start taking place in terms of hitting our customers.”

As the MTA gears up for the latest fare hike, Pete Donohue explained how Albany action could stave off the hikes before the end of April:

The higher subway and bus fares take effect May 31. Commuter train fare increases take effect on June 1 – but June passes go on sale in May. Most service cuts would be phased in between June and December.

With each passing day it becomes more expensive and difficult to halt or scale back the service cuts and hikes, officials said. Subway and bus fares aren’t changed with the simple push of a button, officials said.

New fare tables have to be compiled and then downloaded to every turnstile, token-booth computer, MetroCard vending machine and bus fare box in the bus and subway system, NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said. Staffers must go to thousands of individual pieces of equipment and verify data in advance of the May 31 fare-hike date, officials said.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign echoed Donohue’s report. “There are many paths elected officials can take, but only two possible futures,” Steven Higashide wrote. “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 deteriorates.”

Hopefully, Albany will pick the former. But as time ticks on and nothing emerges from the State Senate, I grow less optimistic by the day.

Comments

4 responses to “Thirty days hath Albany”

  1. jon

    In the last paragraph, I think you meant to say “the former” instead of “the latter”. Unless this blog has suddenly become anti-transit?

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      Yikes. That was a bad typo. It’s fixed.

      Reply
  2. HappyDogNyc

    Why does the MTA always claim they are broke? Since moving to Brooklyn in 2001 the most noticeable changes in the subway system seem to be the elimination of tellers, the elimination of the tokens, and the fare hikes soon to be up to $2.50. I remember when the MTA was caught a few years ago keeping two sets of books, one to display to the public and the media, and the other a secret version showing the MTA had a surplus of cash. In this new economy we cannot continue to fund this type of ruthless corruption. It only takes a few minutes to jot off an email or write a letter to your local congressman and/or senator. In this way you can do more in a few minutes than you could through years of complaining to people that cannot do anything about it.

    HappyDogNYC.com

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      Please read some more of this site. The MTA was NOT caught with two sets of books. They were accused by a corrupt comptroller of having two sets of books, and they were later exonerated in court when those charges were found to be false. This isn’t a point of debate. It’s fact, and as long as people continue to choose not to educate themselves, the MTA will never earn the support it needs.

      The MTA is broke. Feel free to read through the numberous budget documents they have made freely available here on their website before you start spouting off uninformed generalities on something about which you clearly know little. Enough is enough.

      Reply

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