Comptroller says MTA can avoid fare hike

Commuters may not have to reach further into their pockets to ride the subway or bus if City Comptroller William Thompson gets his way.
Thompson’s office released a report on Tuesday, August 7 in response to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) recent proposal to hike fares beginning in 2008, recommending six steps that the organization, with the help from the city and state, could take to add an extra $728 million in revenues and avert the fare hike.
“We simply must look at any and all sources of revenue that can be applied to eliminate - or at least to minimize - any fare or toll increase in the immediate future,” Thompson said. “Every day, we learn of yet another steep increase - whether it’s housing, fuel, even groceries - that keeps working New Yorkers from making ends meet.”
The largest revenue raiser in Thompson’s report, entitled “Putting the Brakes on the Bus and Subway Fare: Options for Eliminating Fare Increases in 2008 and 2009,” recommends that state lift the cap on the State Transit Assistance Program, also known as the 18-6 program, which would generate $195.4 million in additional revenue from both the city and state.
The report also suggests that the additional revenue come from existing dedicated tax funds or subsidy programs, primarily from restoring revenue transferred from New York City Transit (NYCT) in previous years or from formula payment programs, that Thompson said the state has capped at levels below what it should receive.
“If the state and city step up their commitments to the NYCT and the economy remains relatively strong, I believe that any fare and toll increases can be delayed until at least 2010,” Thompson said. “That would give the MTA time to implement productivity improvements and other measures that would minimize future increases.”
Shortly after Thompson released his report, the MTA issued a statement thanking the Comptroller for acknowledging the future expenses that agency will accrue and expressed its desire to work with him on some of his recommendations.
Meanwhile, during a question and answer with reporters on Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he had not read the entire report, but spoke about his congestion pricing proposal as an avenue to finance the city’s portion of the money.
“I can tell you how we’re going to get the extra money to put in there, and that’s going to be with congestion pricing, and if not that, then we’re not going to be able to do it,” Bloomberg told reporters. “Having said that, the monies that we’re going to raise we need to use to expand the mass transit system because there are lots of parts of this city that aren’t served.”
Contrarily, when asked if Governor Eliot Spitzer’s office had a comment on Thompson’s report, a spokesperson for the governor said his office would not issue a statement and directed questions about the report to the MTA.