Less Service and Higher Fares for NY Subway Passengers

New Yorkers will pay 20–30% more to ride subways, buses and suburban trains and endure deep service cuts under a plan the state transit agency approved on Wednesday to close a $1.2bn deficit.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's board also voted to raise tolls on Manhattan's bridges and tunnels.

Several board members, who noted their legal requirement to close the deficit, said they still hoped the state would cobble together a revenue plan that would allow the fare rises and service cuts to be rolled back.

Under the plan, the one-trip bus or subway fare in New York City will rise 50 cents to $2.50, starting as soon as 1 June, while ticket prices for suburban rail commuters will rise as soon as May for those who buy tickets over the internet, officials said. Some commuters will pay as much as $50 more for a monthly ticket.

Hundreds if not thousands of transit workers could be laid off, including subway station attendants. Trains will run less frequently, especially at night, and be cleaned less often.

MTA chief executive Lee Sander warned that the fare rises and severe service cuts might not be enough to see the agency through the economic downturn, which has caused its share of real estate and fuel taxes to decline.

"We may have to re-forecast our annual revenues (soon) to identify further savings in the light of hundreds of millions of dollars of deficits," Sander said.

Gene Russianoff, a transit advocate with the Straphangers Campaign, noted New Yorkers could be hit with more fare increases next year, for the third year in a row. That would be the worst record in the agency's more than 40-year history, said Russianoff.

The MTA also lacks billions of dollars for the new five-year capital plan that must be approved later this year, and its officials said the first priority was keeping the system in good repair. This means so-called mega-projects, such as the new Second Avenue subway, could struggle for funds.

"No one wants to wipe out the extraordinary progress that has been made in the past 25 years," Sander said.

After the 1970s recession, the city's subways became notorious for the graffiti-scrawled trains and frequent delays.

A union board member accused the agency of fuelling criticism that its finances are far from transparent and faulted management for wasting money on construction projects. "We have no structural changes to address that waste," said Ed Watt of the Transport Workers Union Local 100.

Board Member Norman Seabrook, who voted against the plan, said the layoffs made a mockery of advertisements that aim to improve security by asking riders to "tell someone if you see something." Seabrook asked: "If you see something who are you going to tell?"

Although tolls on bridges and tunnels were raised, some now free East river and Harlem bridges will remain free.

The state senate rejected an alternative bail-out plan recommended by a governor-appointed panel, which would have added $5 tolls on those bridges and hit local employers with a new payroll tax of about 34 cents per $100.

Democratic Governor David Paterson pledged to keep working to persuade legislators to enact the alternative plan. But Assembly Democrats have suggested a lower $2 toll for the now free bridges.

Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith wants to raise the payroll tax by about 25 cents. The MTA and the governor say that would not raise enough money.

By Joan Gralla, Reuters.