The MTA Board is on the verge of starting their debate and subsequent vote on the service cuts. I’m going to liveblog the hearing. Follow along below.
Tomorrow morning, the MTA Board, after hours of contentious debate, will vote on the latest round of service cuts. By all accounts, the reduction in service, designed to save the deficit-riddled MTA $93 million, will be approved, but they are just the tip of the iceberg as the agency will still have to address another $400 million budget hole that has emerged since the cuts were first announced.
To understand the impact of the Board vote and what it means for the immediate future of transit in New York City, I offer up a brief FAQ on the vote.
Does the vote mean service will definitely be cut?
When the MTA Board votes tomorrow, they are doing so well in advance of their so-called drop-dead date. The cuts are designed to go into effect in June and will be rolled out slowly over the course of the summer. If the MTA’s financial picture improves or if the state is able to address the MTA’s funding gap before the end of May, these cuts could be taken off the table. However, the state is broke, and the MTA still must, as I mentioned above, close a $400 million budget gap. One way or another, we will see service cuts this year.
What happened to the Student MetroCard cuts?
Because the introduction of a half-priced Student MetroCard won’t begin until September, the MTA has decided to postpone a vote on that part of the cuts package. Political support is growing for some sort of action on Student MetroCards, and the MTA does not want to back itself into a corner by cutting the service now before the politicians have time to respond to constituent demands.
If and when the Student MetroCards are up for a vote, the MTA has structured the plan to give Albany ample time to save free travel. During the 2010-2011 school year, the authority would offer half-price rides to students, and only in September 2011 would any student discounts be eliminated. Odds are good that someone will step up to the plate before the MTA does away with free rides for students.
Can Sen. Espada’s bridge toll plan avert the MTA’s cuts?
Over the weekend, Pedro Espada, part of the Four Hike Four, surprised everyone by announcing his support for East River Bridge tolls. The revenue would be dedicated to the MTA, and all money from tolls must be, in the words of the Senator, “earmarked specifically for the restoration of the free student MetroCard program and other subway and bus services that are being targeted with cuts or elimination.” Sounds like a rescue plan, no?
Well, Espada’s plan has some faulty assumptions. He is proposing a $2 toll on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro Bridges and claims this toll would raise over $500 million for the MTA. Those who have studied the issue in depth — such as the Drum Major Institute’s John Petro — say that Espada is overestimating by double. As Petro writes today, this plan would net the MTA around $250 million. That would be enough, for now, to save student transit and take most of the subway and bus cuts off the table.
There is, however, one final catch. If Espada’s plan delivers just $250 million annually, the MTA would still need another $500 million to cover the remaining deficit, and those cuts would probably be reinstated. Right now, the MTA is running a dangerous political game by not proposing $750 million in cuts, but that’s the way it is. Any money from Espada is better than nothing.
Will the MTA raise fares this year?
As part of the last MTA funding plan approved in 2009, the MTA will be raising fares at the start of 2011, and the agency has been vehement in its adherence to that schedule. There will be, they say, no fare hikes this year. Still, some Board members seem to be floating trial balloons on the fare hike. If the MTA does raise its fares this year, it would probably be viewed as an advance on the 2011 fare hikes, and the authority would not, barring an economic catastrophe, have to raise fares again next year.
Transit’s newest train designation is not long for this world. When the MTA announced on Friday that the V train will be cut and the M extended along Sixth Ave. and Queens Boulevard during the week, they put a eight and a half-year-old train on life support. Barring an economic miracle, the V train’s tombstone will read 2001-2010, and it will be a train few will miss.
Today, we roast the V train. It runs a slow local route from Second Ave. on the Lower East Side to Forest Hills in Queens via the 53rd St. tunnel. Designed to alleviate overcrowding along the Queens Boulevard line, the train never garnered much love, and transit advocates saw a promise of express service in Brooklyn that remains unfulfilled. That bright future won’t come to pass until the MTA’s financial picture improves. Instead, let us revisit the history of the maligned V.
For years, the F train ran express in Queens to 179th St. via the 53rd St. tunnel. The MTA had long hoped to connect the 63rd St. tunnel, opened in the mid-1980s, to the Queens Boulevard line, but that 1500-foot section of tunnel would not open until December 16, 2001, nine years after designs commenced on the project. With the new tunnel connector available, some IND Sixth Ave. train could run in Queens and into Manhattan via the 63rd St. tunnel while the other could run into Manhattan via the 53rd St. tunnel. Enter the V train.
The authority first announced plans for the V train in early December of 2000. The new local train was meant to, in the words of agency spokesperson Melissa Farley, ”relieve some of the pressure on the E and F lines.” Originally set to open in August 2001, the 63rd St. Connector and new train line were meant to increase capacity along the Queens Boulevard line from 41 trains per hour to 50.
Long before the first V train hit the tracks, though, the line was beset by controversy. Some politicians wanted the train to run 24 hours and also into Brooklyn, but the going got tough when the G came under fire. At a May 2001 meeting, the MTA approved the V but slashed the G. Instead of running to Forest Hills at all times, G trains were to terminate at Court Square during the week due to capacity demands along Queens Boulevard. Brooklyn and Queens politicians were up in arms, but the MTA gave them only a moving sidewalk in return.
The V itself, making 24 stops in Queens and Manhattan debuted on December 17, 2001, five months later than scheduled due, in part, to the Sept. 11 attacks. From the start, some transit advocates threw the V under the wagon. “My instinct is the V will end up standing for ‘very little used,'” Gene Russianoff, who wanted the express to offer an in-system transfer to the Lexington Ave. IRT line, said. “New Yorkers prize speed over elbow room.”
On its first day, the V was described as both slow and empty. New Yorkers — then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani wondered “What is the V train?” — were confused by the train, and despite an extensive outreach program by Transit, commuters were baffled by the out-of-system transfer between the F at 63rd St. and the IRT and BMT lines at 59th St. The transfer from the 6 to V and E at 53rd St. was not a hit. “I didn’t know anything about the V train,” Donna Samaski said to the Daily News. “I came here looking for the F and now I don’t know where to go.”
Yet, as time wore on, the V trains became more useful. In May 2002, Transit officials noted slightly less crowded Queens Boulevard express trains. Instead of operating at 115 percent capacity during the morning and evening rush hours, the express trains were at 95 percent capacity with the V picking up the slack. Still, others wanted faster trains with better connections and thought that the 53rd St. corridor should have serviced only express trains with the local heading to Queens via 63rd St. “The V is a loser,” Russianoff said, taking a grudge against a train line to an entirely new level. “It’s slow and unpopular, and transit officials should rethink it.”
Today, though, the V is the V. It offers a slow ride from Queens into Manhattan but only by a few minutes. Those who opt for the local can often get a seat even during the peak hours, and with two different tunnels providing express service from Queens Boulevard, the route adjustments have simply became a fact of commuting life.
In a few months, the M will take over this tortured route, and the V with its controversial past will fade into subway history. Who knows what fates await the Brooklyn-based F express plan? Who knows how much more crowded the trains along the BMT 4th Ave. line — currently served by the M — will be? For now, these are the last days of the V, a slow route but one that eventually found its purpose.
If you’re looking for this weekend’s service advisories, feel free to skip to the listings. Otherwise, check out the rest of this post for an update on the MTA’s plans to cut service this summer.
The poor, poor V train is not long for this world. A child of 2001, the V runs only during the week and only for around 18 hours on a lonely local run between 2nd Ave. and Forest Hills. All of its stops are serviced by other trains, and in a few short months, it will become a part of subway history, doomed to be forgotten until the MTA has money to expand service.
For those who have followed the MTA’s latest proposal to slash service in order to save millions, the death of the V is a surprise. Early reports indicated that the M would be the designation to go. The V, running via the Chrystie St. Cut, would run from Forest Hill to Middle Village during the day and from Myrtle Ave. to Middle Village during late nights and weekends. Late on Friday, though, the MTA announced a handful of revisions to their service cuts, and while no subway cuts were spared, the M has been saved while the V will be axed.
Why the semantic change? According to the MTA, history and tradition were on the M’s side. “Rather than using the V designation for the revised service between Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Metropolitan Avenue,” the report — available here as a PDF — said, “the service would be designated the M. To conform to NYCT’s standard route designation system, which assigns the color of the route based on its Manhattan trunk line, the M would be orange rather than brown, since it would be a 6th Avenue route in Manhattan. While some members of the community were supportive of the service pattern change, many people expressed objection to the elimination of the M designation.”
Subway history, it seems, runs deep. “People were more comfortable with the M designation, being an older and more historic train designation than the V,” Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said to Michael Grynbaum of The Times. This color change, noted Grynbaum, will be the MTA’s first since the Q was rerouted from the orange 6th Ave. lines to the yellow Broadway lines.
In addition to this subway service change, Transit also announced a series of changes to the bus service cuts. The MTA has reduced the proposed cuts by $5.9 million, and certain routes including the Bx18 and Bx33 in the Bronx, the B4 and B13 in Brooklyn, the M22 in Manhattan, the Q14 and Q42 in Queens and the S42/52 and S60 in Staten Island along with some express bus lines will be saved. Many of these routes will still be scaled back from their current service levels but to a lesser extent than the MTA originally proposed.
“The enormous public reaction to the proposed cuts reminds everyone how fundamental the transit system is to New Yorkers and how painful any cut can be,” MTA Chairman Jay H. Walder said. “While our budget deficit forces us to move ahead with most of the cuts, we were able to take a number of the most painful cuts off the table based on what we heard from our customers.”
Despite this spin on the cuts, the simple truth is that the MTA is still cutting service. “Millions of subway riders will still suffer increased waits and greater crowding – as the subway cuts are totally unchanged and remain in effect,” Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said in a statement. “And while a few thousand riders have obtained reprieves from very harsh cuts, tens of thousands of other bus riders around the city will suffer longer out-of-the-way trips and longer waits with more packed buses.”
For more on how the new proposal impacts the MTA’s other agencies, check out the authority’s website. Now on to the service advisories.
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Below are the service advisories for the weekend. As always, these come to me via the MTA and are subject to change without notice. Listen carefully to on-board announcements and check signs in your local station. For a map of this weekend’s changes, check out Subway Weekender.
Please note: From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no transfers between 23, and J shuttle trains at Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau. A trains skip Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau in both directions. There are no 4 trains between Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge. There are no 5 trains between 42nd Street-Grand Central and Bowling Green. A special J shuttle will operate between Delancey Street-Essex Street F and the Prospect Park Q station in Brooklyn as an alternate.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, uptown 1 and 2 trains skip 50th, 59th, 66th, 79th and 86th Streets due to station rehabilitation at 96th and 59th Streets.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, 3 train service is extended to/from New Lots Avenue due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center and a cable pull south of Nevins Street.
From 11 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, Manhattan-bound 4 trains run express from Burnside Avenue to 125th Street due to a concrete pour at 149th Street-Grand Concourse.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, 4 trains run local between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center and a cable pull south of Nevins Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no 4 trains between Utica Avenue and Brooklyn Bridge. For Utica Avenue, Franklin Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, customers may take the 3. For Nevins Street, Borough Hall, Bowling Green, Wall Street, Fulton Street and Brooklyn Bridge, customers may take the special J shuttle. These changes are due to construction of the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no 5 trains between 42nd Street-Grand Central and Bowling Green due to work at the Fulton Street Transit Center. Customers should take the 4 or special J shuttle instead.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, free shuttle buses replace A trains between Far Rockaway and Beach 90th Street due to station rehabilitations at Beach 67th, Beach 44th and Beach 25th Streets.
From 5:30 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March 21, free shuttle buses replace trains between 80th Street and Lefferts Blvd. due to track panel installation. Customers may transfer between the shuttle bus and the A train at 80th Street, 88th Street or Rockaway Blvd.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, 207th Street-bound A trains run express from Canal Street to 59th Street, then local to 145th Street due to station rehabilitation at 59th Street-Columbus Circle.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 59th Street to Canal Street due to a track chip out at West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, A trains skip Broadway-Nassau Street in both directions due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there is no C train service due to a track chip out at West 4th Street. Customers may take the A or D instead. Note: D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street. A trains run local with exceptions.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, D trains run local between 145th Street and 59th Street due to a track chip out at West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, E trains are rerouted on the F line between West 4th Street and 2nd Avenue due to Chambers Street Signal Modernization project. For service to Spring Street, Canal Street, and World Trade Center/Chambers Street, customers should take the A instead. Note: Uptown A trains skip Spring Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, Manhattan-bound E trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to power cable work.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, uptown F trains skip 14th and 23rd Streets due to a substation rehabilitation.
From 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square due to track maintenance. Customers may take the E or R instead.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, there is a special J shuttle operating between Delancey Street F and Prospect Park Q as an alternative to 4 service between Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge and Atlantic Avenue due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, Jamaica Center-bound J trains run express from Myrtle Avenue to Broadway Junction due to track maintenance.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, March 20 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, the last stop for some downtown N trains is Whitehall Street due to track maintenance. Customers continuing to Brooklyn may transfer to a Brooklyn-bound N during the day at Canal Street and overnight at Whitehall Street.
From 11 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 7 a.m. Saturday, March 20, from 11 p.m. Saturday, March 20 to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 21 and from 11 p.m. Sunday, March 21 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, uptown Q trains run local from Times Square-42nd Street to 57th Street/7th Avenue due to a track dig-out north of 42nd Street-Times Square.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21, Manhattan-bound R trains run express from Forest Hills-71st Avenue to Roosevelt Avenue due to power cable work.
From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday, March 20, R shuttle trains run local from 59th Street to 36th Street in Brooklyn due to track cleaning.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, March 19 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 22, A trains replace S trains between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park due to station rehabilitation at Beach 67th Street, Beach 44th Street, and Beach 25th Street.
Over the last few months, I’ve been highly critical of advocacy efforts in support of Student MetroCards. The most vocal groups have targeted the MTA despite the fact that the city and state — and not the MTA — should be funding student transit. Today, though, the Straphangers Campaign ramped up their efforts to target Albany. The campaign members and City Council rep Margaret Chin parked themselves outside of Stuyvesant High School this afternoon and gave out 1200 leaflets urging parents to call Gov. David Paterson and ask him to support Student MetroCards. “Call now or pay later for student MetroCards,” Gene Russianoff said.
The Straphangers also noted that the city is supposed to reimburse the MTA for student transit due to lost revenue from subsidized fares. As it is painfully obvious that the city and state’s combined $70 million in student transit contributions do not cover the $214 million the MTA says it costs per year to run the program, the appropriate governing bodies should be paying for this program. Mayor Bloomberg continues to say that the city has no money for student transit, but someone — be it Albany, City Hall of the city’s parents — are going to have to pay.
Updated 12:20 p.m.: Next week at the March meeting of the MTA Board, those who hold the fate of the New York City transportation network in their hands will vote to approve a sweeping array of service cuts aimed at partially closing a $751 million gap in the MTA’s budget. While the elimination of free student travel remains a key centerpiece to this plan, MTA Chair and CEO Jay Walder announced that the Board would delay a vote on the fate of the Student MetroCards until June.
Walder’s announcement came on the heels of a Wednesday meeting with students and transit advocates who support free rides. While some have billed it an outright victory for the students, the program is far from saved. Rather, the MTA can delay this vote until the summer because it will not take the authority long to implement a half-fare plan in September as provided for in the current plan.
Still, Walder stressed his willingness to work with the city and state to find the funds for the program. “I strongly believe that students in New York City should be able to travel to school without paying, just like students around the state,” Walder said. “The MTA has been compared to the yellow school bus, and that’s a good analogy. Students don’t pay to get on the school bus, but the bus doesn’t show up unless the State or school district provides funding. I wish I could commit to fund this program, but the MTA simply does not have the money to cover this State and City responsibility any longer.”
He continued: “I also want to take away any confusion about whether or not this will be dealt with at the board meeting on March 24th. There is no need to deal with it at the board meeting on March 24th. We’d like to leave additional time, as much time as possible for discussion with the city and the state.”
The comforting news out of Wednesday’s meeting came from the student statements. Those in attendance seemed to recognize that New York’s politicians — and not its transit authority — should be the ones funding student travel. “We want the state and the city to bring new revenue sources that can keep flowing in and this is for the broader budget,” one student said to New York 1.
Still, though, elected officials do not seem willing to find the money for the free rides. Even though they’re happy sinking money into a yellow school bus system and even though every other district in the nation pays for student travel, the Mayor thinks he’s already doing enough. “The state cut back the subsidies and cut back the monies they give to the MTA,” he said. “I’m sympathetic. He’s got to balance his budget.” Students be damned, says Walder. They can pay.
Those organizing the students called yesterday’s meeting “a step forward” but recognize that much work remains to be done. Both the city and state have little money available, and if free student travel is the victim of multiple budget crunches, the only avenue students may be able to pursue is to agitate for better representatives in Albany and City Hall. New York shouldn’t let its students down, but the MTA should not be paying for student travel out of its own pocket. With three months to go, the student MetroCards are on life support. Will someone save them?
Although I referred to the MTA’s public hearings last week as political theater, I recognize that, as happened in 1990, these hearings can impact the MTA’s decision to cut services. Today, the Daily News reports, unsurprisingly, that the MTA is reconsidering some bus route eliminations. The report is light on details, but the Post says Walder will try to encourage $5 million in internal belt-tightening over eliminated some bus routes. For local neighborhoods who are on the verge of seeing their buses disappear, this is a good news indeed.
On the other hand, the MTA has a larger problem. When the cuts were first proposed the authority’s deficit was around $350 million, but today, it is approximately $751 million. Walder says the agency will eliminate administrative positions and stop some technology-based projects, but those cuts will save just $50 million annually. At some point, the authority is going to have to find big bucks, and if that means massive service cuts or a steep fare hike, New Yorkers who rely on the subways and buses for their daily needs are going to be feeling the pain.
The proceedings grew rowdy last night at the Brooklyn Museum as four people were arrested at the MTA hearing in the County of Kings last night. Police had to remove these people — assumed to be students — from the auditorium last night when they jumped the line at the podium and refused to cede ground to those waiting to speak.
Meanwhile, news reports say hundreds of people attended hearings in the Bronx and Brooklyn last night, and as you can imagine, the grandstanding politicians were at it again. Assembly rep Vanessa Gibson joined the chorus of elected officials who decided to blame the MTA for her own personal inability to lead and govern in Albany. It’s too bad these people getting arrested can’t direct their passion and ire toward Gibson and her ilk — those politicians who are able to skip the line and speak before everyone else does. With a vehement public urging them on, Albany would finally have the impetus to approve the policies and ensure the money the MTA so badly needs.
Over the last few months, I’ve repeatedly touched upon issues of cost in relation to the MTA’s decision to cut student MetroCards. As I explained again on Monday, it should cost between $687-$800 a year for one student’s school year travel without the option of free transit.
But what of the costs to the state to fund student travel? Tom Namako of The Post tackled this subject this week, and his findings are both staggering and unsurprising. The state won’t pony up more than $25 million — down for $45 million, up from $6 million — a year for student MetroCards, but it is content to spend over $1 billion busing students to school via the fleet of yellow buses. Namako also notes that the MetroCard program “help[s] move four times as many students at one-fifth of the cost of school buses.”
Namako continues:
The agency said it spends about $214 million to transport 585,000 students for free every year, with the city and state putting in only $45 million and $25 million respectively. Meanwhile, the Education Department’s $1 billion school-bus program moves only about 140,000 students, city statistics show.
That’s $786 million more for 445,000 fewer students. But city officials insist that money can’t be taken from one group and given to the other. “Busing requirements are set by state law. The city does not have the option of using busing money to fund MetroCards,” said one mayoral aide.
The DOE determines who is eligible for both yellow bus and free MTA services.
This is a staggering failure of politics and common sense from the city and state of New York City. Both of the entities responsible for getting students to school have been handed a literal golden transportation ticket, and they are both on the verge of letting the plan lapse. Meanwhile, these governments are content to flush money down the drain via a costly and inefficient yellow school busing system.
The MTA remains the nation’s only transit agency tasked with footing the bill for student transport, and there is simply no justification for it. It’s time for the state and city to swallow their anger and do the right thing. If the students are left stranded, it will be the fault of City Hall and Albany and not the MTA.
The MTA’s proposed service cuts and the plan to eliminate the student MetroCards will come under fire at this week’s hearings. (Map via NYC Transit’s book of service changes)
Ed. Note (11:30 a.m.): An earlier version of this post focused on the critique of the MTA’s proposed bus service changes. Because of some conflicts in the arguments, I’ve updated this post.
Last night, the first of the MTA’s service cut hearings invaded New York City. Due to some law school obligations and assignments this week, I don’t believe I’ll be able to attend any, but I can tell from the coverage (Times, Daily News) that I’m not missing much. A bunch of people are railing against the MTA, and a bunch of politicians who have the checkbook power to stop the cuts are grandstanding instead of paying up. Been there, done that, and we know how that story ends.
This year’s format differs a bit from last year’s, and the MTA has taken some flack for the change in schedule. As the hearings hit the five boroughs and outer-lying areas this week, the authority has decided to double-book. For example, tonight, both the Bronx and Brooklyn host hearings, and MTA Board members and top officials will have to determine which of the two events they should attend.
Politicians and some rider advocates claim that this packed schedule does a disservice to angry riders who want their voices heard. The MTA has a different take. Authority heads want “to hear from folks throughout the region, not to allow the same people to testify nine different times,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said to The Times. After watching the same people say the same thing over and over again last year, I can understand why the MTA would want to eliminate that noise at their hearings.
Despite my inherent skepticism of the impact of these hearings — after all, nothing short of a miracle that happens at these hearings will help generate the $750 million the authority needs — some interesting ideas come out of these hearings. Some people stress the human element of transit and call for certain bus lines to be maintained. Others express their opinions on the cut package as a whole. And sometimes the MTA is listening.
Take, for instance, this report from December 1990. Nearly twenty years ago, the MTA found itself in a similar situation. The Authority was short over $200 million and had planned to eliminate numerous bus routes and scheduled trains. After vehement public protest, the authority decided to approve a 10-cent far hike and engaged in some serious internal belt-tightening.
Today, though, while I’ve long advocated raising the fares, especially in light of the fact that we don’t pay enough as it is, the MTA may be left with no choice. They will have to cut services to cover its gap, and they may, as officials have started to hint this week, raise the fares as well. The politicians can squawk; the people can protest; but with a deficit representing nearly seven percent of its overall budget and no funds from Albany on the horizon, the MTA will simply just sit there, listen and enact its planned cuts in the end.