To most New Yorkers, the MTA’s budget is a thing of mystery. We’ve suffered through constant fare hikes and no corresponding increases in transit service. We’ve heard false tales of two sets of books repeated ad nauseam for nearly a decade. We hear about a capital budget, an operating budget and debt payments. And now the MTA is receiving another infusion of cash totaling billions of dollars for Sandy-related repairs. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin.
Tonight — Wednesday — at the Transit Museum, as part of my ongoing “Problem Solvers” series, Straphangers Campaign attorney Gene Russianoff and I will get to unpacking some of the complicated and convoluted details surrounding the MTA’s budget structure. We’ll look at who pays for transit in New York City and who should pay for transit. We’ll look at where the money comes from and where it goes. And we’ll explore just why the MTA needs to raise fares every two years and why the MTA’s budget is always so fragile.
The party gets started at 6:30 p.m., and doors to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn open at 6. RSVP here, and come with questions. Gene and I will take comments from the audience as part of the discussion as well. See you there.