MTA Considers Fare Hikes For 2019 and 2021

[Via Garibaldi 8]

M.T.A. Board Pushes Back Against Plans to Raise Fares in 2019 and 2021

 

By EMMA G. FITZSIMMONS

 

JULY 26, 2017

 

 

Joseph J. Lhota, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, at its monthly board meeting on Wednesday. CreditVictor J. Blue for The New York Times

 

As the wrangling begins over how to pay for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s ambitious new subway rescue plan, officials offered news on Wednesday that was unlikely to make riders happy: Fares will probably rise again.

 

The authority’s chief financial officer, Robert E. Foran, said officials planned to raise fares for subway and bus riders in 2019 and 2021. The last fare and toll increase occurred in March, when the price of a weekly MetroCard rose by $1 to $32.

 

At the authority’s monthly board meeting in Lower Manhattan, Mr. Foran said the agency needed to continue to raise fares by about 4 percent every other year as part of its long-term financial plans. But some board members bristled at the biennial ritual, especially as service deteriorated.

 

“I think it is time now for us and our partners at the state to review or re-evaluate the every-other-year fare and toll discussion,” said Mitchell Pally, a longtime board member. “I don’t think that’s sustainable.”

 

Another board member, Andrew Albert, said the authority had to secure other funding streams to support operations, instead of continuing to raise fares.

 

“If you take these to their logical conclusion, at some point, the fare will be $10 and tolls will be $50, and I’m not sure that is sustainable,” Mr. Albert said.

 

The authority’s chairman, Joseph J. Lhota, said he was prepared to examine new funding sources to avoid regular fare increases.

 

“It was clearly the sense of the board that we need to replace the biennial fare increases with a new stream of revenue,” Mr. Lhota said in an interview.

 

Mr. Lhota is separately pressing Mayor Bill de Blasio to pay for half of Mr. Lhota’s roughly $800 million subway rescue plan. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who controls the authority, has agreed to pay for the rest, but Mr. de Blasio has resisted giving the authority more money.

 

The public feud over the subway continued Wednesday, with Transport Workers Union Local 100 releasing a campaign-style television advertisement criticizing Mr. de Blasio for not agreeing to finance the plan. The ad also praised Mr. Cuomo, a frequent ally of the union, which represents thousands of subway workers.

 

“Put politics aside, Mayor de Blasio,” the ad said. “Fifty-fifty is fair. Fund your share.”

 

The union said the ad was part of a six-figure campaign that would run on NY1, CNN and MSNBC. The union supports the subway rescue plan, which calls for fixing signals and tracks and hiring 2,700 workers.

 

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Mr. de Blasio stuck to his position that M.T.A. officials and Mr. Cuomo must fix the subway because they run the system.

 

“Part of what I’m trying to make clear is it begins with responsibility,” the mayor said. “The M.T.A. has to take responsibility for its own actions. The State of New York has to take responsibility for the fact it controls the M.T.A.”

 

Mr. Lhota, who returned to lead the authority in June to help fix the subway after an earlier stint as chairman, said he would continue to try to work with city officials to persuade them to fund the plan.

 

“I still think there’s a need for partnership between the city and state to come to the aid of the riders — the people of the City of New York, the constituents they have,” Mr. Lhota told reporters after the board meeting. “I’m optimistic something can happen from that.”

 

The budget presentation by Mr. Foran also revealed the steep costs of the agency’s contingency plans for summer repairs at Pennsylvania Station in New York — a transit headache Mr. Cuomo called the “summer of hell.” The authority is providing discounts for Long Island Rail Road riders and an array of travel options to help commuters whose lives have been disrupted by the closing of several tracks at the busy train station.

 

The authority expected to lose $58 million from higher expenses and lower revenue in July and August, Mr. Foran said. That includes more than $21 million in lost revenue, about $18 million for buses and $5 million for ferries.

 

Mr. Lhota said the agency’s approach had been working well.

 

“Was it a lot of money?” he asked. “Yes. Is it well worth it? Yes. Because not doing it — the catastrophe that it would have caused would have been unbearable for the entire region over all.”

 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/26/nyregion/amid-subway-crisis-mta-plans-to-raise-fares-again-in-2019-and-2021.html

[Deucey]

More fare hikes...

 

No matter your political affiliation, the fact politicians in Albany and the City have abrogated responsibility to safeguard the via funding and maintenance should influence your decision on voting for the incumbents.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

More fare hikes...

 

No matter your political affiliation, the fact politicians in Albany and the City have abrogated responsibility to safeguard the via funding and maintenance should influence your decision on voting for the incumbents.

I have to say I may very well go and speak at one of the upcoming meetings. The situation is out of control and I am sick of the digging in my damn pockets for more money for ABSYMAL service.  I can count the days on one hand when my express bus actually comes as scheduled at night, and mind you I'm talking well outside of rush hour.  The drivers now are so concerned about running hot that they leave the damn terminal 15 minutes late.  Last night my bus was about 15 minutes late.  I walked over to the BxM1 instead which beat the BxM2 that was scheduled to leave 10 minutes earlier.  I don't see the point of paying so much for so little in return. May really consider using Uber, especially given what I'm paying a month.

[MHV9218]

More fare hikes...

 

No matter your political affiliation, the fact politicians in Albany and the City have abrogated responsibility to safeguard the via funding and maintenance should influence your decision on voting for the incumbents.

 

The city hasn't done a damn thing wrong on this. It's not their job. They've given more money than ever before. This is all Albany, and anybody voting Cuomo back in without serious scrutiny is an insane person.

[RR503]

A board member was discussing this at work today, and he said that there was VERY little chance they'd go for it. He said that they were looking much more seriously at other funding sources, like move ny, gas tax, etc.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

IIRC, the 2009 "MTA bailout" law actually requires fare and toll increases every two years in perpetuity.

[Deucey]

The city hasn't done a damn thing wrong on this. It's not their job. They've given more money than ever before. This is all Albany, and anybody voting Cuomo back in without serious scrutiny is an insane person.

Wrong. The City has done a poor job fighting Albany to maintain its NYCTA lease covenants, regardless of how much money Billy Dee ponied up.

[bobtehpanda]

Wrong. The City has done a poor job fighting Albany to maintain its NYCTA lease covenants, regardless of how much money Billy Dee ponied up.

 

BdB has possibly the worst communications of any mayor since Dinkins. It's kind of sad, because he has actually achieved some of his policy goals, but no one cares or gives a crap because all of the negativity drowns it out.

[BreeddekalbL]

and they better not go to Zone based fares cause you will never hear the end of it from city Hall 

[CenSin]

The State of New York has to take responsibility for the fact it controls the M.T.A.

I’m siding with the mayor on different principles. “No taxation without representation.” Cuomo has to pay in proportion to the amount of control he has.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I’m siding with the mayor on different principles. “No taxation without representation.” Cuomo has to pay in proportion to the amount of control he has.

I just wish de Blasio would stop talking about the 2.5 billion allocated to the two years ago and focus on the here and now. That money may not be spent, but it's likely earmarked for projects already, yet he tries to act like the is just sitting there on the money and he's this fiscal warrior saving the City from being robbed. What a load of BS. He is the last person that should be claiming fiscal responsibility given his track record so far. You have the DOT spending millions under his administration to resurface and design streets, only to rip these streets up again due to clear errors. And yes it's his fault because he's the one deciding who runs the show at the DOT and elsewhere where mismanagement is occurring. There's a lack of incompetence in this administration that is mind boggling.

[RR503]

I’m siding with the mayor on different principles. “No taxation without representation.” Cuomo has to pay in proportion to the amount of control he has.

 

Alright, so lets do this your way. Cuomo appoints 5 members to the board, DeBlasio four, the county execs of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester 1 each, and Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Putnam one each (but they vote as 1 so we'll call that 1/4 each for now). That is a total of 13 votes. If we do everything proportionally, the state should be paying 38% of the budget, the city 30%, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester 8% each, and Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Putnam 2% each. Now of course, such a funding mechanism would be in total ignorance of economic realities, to say nothing of the amount of service provided, but as I said, we're doing it your way. Now, becuase this matter applies only to the city, we should stop thinking about other representatives. NYC and NYS have a combined 9 votes on the MTA board. So, if we were to apply your funding scheme, NYC would be paying 44% of NYCTA costs, while NYS pays 56%. 

 

The mayor is all in a tussle about giving 2.5 bil to the current, 29 bil capital program. If we are to use our first methodology in which the city pays 30% of total costs, they should be paying 8.7 bil. If we are to use our second, in which they pay for 44% of the NYCTA capital budget only, they pay 6.38 bil. Y'all can argue over whether my numbers are right, and whether this is a sensical way of doing things, but what you see here is the mathematical result of an argument against the city paying more. 

[bobtehpanda]

The cynic in me says that even if the Mayor were to boost city funding, nothing would be in place to stop the Governor from cutting state funding in equal measure.

[RR503]

I would agree in normal times, but now, there would be a boatload of $#!+ waiting for him if he steps even mildly out of line.

[BreeddekalbL]

The cynic in me says that even if the Mayor were to boost city funding, nothing would be in place to stop the Governor from cutting state funding in equal measure.

 

If that's the case would the City have the Legal basis to sue the MTA a state entity on the basis of the funding cuts on making it unequal?

 

another question if say De Blasio were to go renegade and try and get the subways back under city control, would he have the basis using Cuomo's and Lhota's mouth by saying that they basically abdicated their responsibility?

[CenSin]

Alright, so lets do this your way. Cuomo appoints 5 members to the board, DeBlasio four, the county execs of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester 1 each, and Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Putnam one each (but they vote as 1 so we'll call that 1/4 each for now). That is a total of 13 votes. If we do everything proportionally, the state should be paying 38% of the budget, the city 30%, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester 8% each, and Dutchess, Orange, Rockland and Putnam 2% each. Now of course, such a funding mechanism would be in total ignorance of economic realities, to say nothing of the amount of service provided, but as I said, we're doing it your way. Now, becuase this matter applies only to the city, we should stop thinking about other representatives. NYC and NYS have a combined 9 votes on the MTA board. So, if we were to apply your funding scheme, NYC would be paying 44% of NYCTA costs, while NYS pays 56%. 

 

The mayor is all in a tussle about giving 2.5 bil to the current, 29 bil capital program. If we are to use our first methodology in which the city pays 30% of total costs, they should be paying 8.7 bil. If we are to use our second, in which they pay for 44% of the NYCTA capital budget only, they pay 6.38 bil. Y'all can argue over whether my numbers are right, and whether this is a sensical way of doing things, but what you see here is the mathematical result of an argument against the city paying more. 

The only thing I see is Cuomo jerking around the MTA like an abused dog on a leash. I’m a numbers guy, and I like numbers. But the observations just don’t agree. When was the last time the city made the MTA to do something?

[bobtehpanda]

If that's the case would the City have the Legal basis to sue the MTA a state entity on the basis of the funding cuts on making it unequal?

 

another question if say De Blasio were to go renegade and try and get the subways back under city control, would he have the basis using Cuomo's and Lhota's mouth by saying that they basically abdicated their responsibility?

 

Of course not. Not everything is a law, and funding is not enshrined in law.

[BrooklynBus]

and they better not go to Zone based fares cause you will never hear the end of it from city Hall

 

Zone fares won't work. They need a time based fare.

[Gotham Bus Co.]

another question if say De Blasio were to go renegade and try and get the subways back under city control, would he have the basis using Cuomo's and Lhota's mouth by saying that they basically abdicated their responsibility?

 

If the City takes back full control of the system, it would also have to accept full responsibility (financial, legal, and political) for the system. How likely is that?

[Gotham Bus Co.]

The cynic in me says that even if the Mayor were to boost city funding, nothing would be in place to stop the Governor from cutting state funding in equal measure.

 

One year, Mayor Giuliani and Governor Pataki each cut city and state funding to the by the exact same amount as a dollar-for-dollar offset of Federal capital funds (i.e. the lost two dollars for every federal dollar gained). Then Pataki had the nerve to claim credit for the Federal funds as state aid ("I could have taken that money away, too, but I didn't").

[Porter]

As I like to say: "raise it to three and let it be."