Bus, subway fares likely to skyrocket

Subway and bus riders can expect to dig deeper into their pockets - for less service - as soon as next year unless the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) receives assistance to close its $1.2 billion budget deficit for 2009.
The MTA’s proposed plan calls for a 23 percent increase in subway and bus fares as well as the elimination of numerous weekend bus lines in order to balance their budget, which has taken a hit from plummeting tax revenues, higher fuel costs and increased debt service obligations.
“The proposed budget presents the MTA Board with extremely tough choices that we must grapple with over the next month,” said MTA Chair H. Dale Hemmerdinger. “We have an obligation to pass a balanced budget, but we all hope that service cuts and extreme fare increases can be avoided.”
The proposal that MTA officials unveiled on Thursday, November 20, includes each MTA agency identifying actions to reduce their budget by 4.7 percent, downsizing the workforce by consolidating back office operations of all MTA agencies, taking an inter-agency loan of $135 million in 2009 and 2010 and continuing already-introduced spending reductions that started in July.
The plan also calls for customers to contribute more with subway and bus riders possibly paying as much as $2.50 on a single ride Metrocard while Express Bus fares could skyrocket from $5 to $7.50.
“The MTA proposals cannot be more miserable and will result in significant hardships for millions for whom transit is a lifeline,” said City Councilmember John Liu, who chairs the Council’s Transportation Committee. “Dozens of bus lines cut to the core and even eliminated, many of those lines being in Queens, the threat of new bridge tolls is as bad as it gets.”
In addition to the $1.2 billion deficit this year, the agency is projecting a $2.39 billion deficit in 2010, $2.647 billion in 2011 and $2.972 billion in 2012.
Meanwhile, local legislators are proposing their own solutions that would help the MTA raise additional revenue without cutting service.
On Monday, November 24, Queens City Councilmember Eric Gioia and Brooklyn Councilmember Yassky, called on the authority to release a report detailing their real estate holdings, and implored the MTA to sell off some property in order to raise additional revenue.
One day earlier, City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. unveiled a plan to increase the amount charged for registration fees on private and commercial vehicles based on their weight - the more the vehicle weighs, the more money drivers would pay. Thompson said that the new charges would generate more than $1 billion in annual regional revenue for the MTA, and at the same time, promote energy independence and ease parking shortages in neighborhoods throughout the city.
“Once again, the MTA is looking to New Yorkers to cover its budget shortfalls while simultaneously cutting services and delaying key projects,” Thompson said. “Instead of asking New Yorkers to dig deeper into their pockets to ride the subway or bus, we need creative approaches to address our transit needs.”
The MTA Board will vote on the proposed changes at a December 17 meeting, and if they adopt the changes, riders can expect to see the new fares and services time take effect in June of 2009.

How Changes Would Impact Queens Subways