While Albany may be nearing an MTA rescue plan, transit advocates shouldn’t lower their guards yet. The so-called Fare Hike Four remain a threat to adequately funded transit, and last week, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery — representing an area where 70 percent of households are car-free and transit commuters outnumber drivers by a 10-to-1 margin — joined their ranks.
On Friday, my friend and fellow subway rider Todd passed on the following e-mail from Montgomery’s office:
Thank you so much for reaching out to me about the MTA “Doomsday” plan. I am working with my colleagues in the Senate to find an alternative to the unacceptably harsh ideas suggested by the Ravitch Commission. The Senate Majority plan provides the MTA with more operating capital than the Ravitch plan, does so with a lower fare increase and with no tolls on bridges. In addition it provides for the ongoing future fiscal health of the MTA by requiring a thorough forensic audit of the MTA to root out excesses and duplications. It is unacceptable for the public to be continually subjected to fare increases and be denied any oversight of the MTA finances. With your continued support for the Senate Majority proposal, we can assure the continued responsible health of our transportation infrastructure.
Today, Streetsblog took the Senator to task for supporting a nonsensical plan with questionable math. Her support of this plan is, in the words of Ben Fried, “laughable” in light of her supposed commitment to both working families and mass transit, and it is becoming more and more obvious that the people we send to Albany are unqualified to be running our government. Montgomery ran for her Senate seat unopposed, and New York City is now paying the price for this political ineptitude.