June 24, 2008
MTA's Latest Budget Forecast Means Delayed Service Improvements, Delayed Projects, Possible Fare Hike
Photograph by shveckle on Flickr
The MTA announced the long-expected news that its economic situation is grim. In fact, MTA CEO and Executive Director Elliot Sander told reporters, “Should riders be concerned? Absolutely. Am I concerned? Absolutely.” The depressing highlights:
- "Tax revenues are $120 million below projections" and will be $280 million under projections by the end of the year.
- Rising fuel prices means the MTA is $60 million over budget. All told, the MTA could have a $500 million deficit in the operating budget.
- $2.7 billion in projects will be delayed, including the renovations of 19 subway stations (including Smith-Ninth Street, Ninth Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway, and 12 others in Brooklyn and Castle Hill Avenue, Middletown Road and two others in the Bronx) and modernizing track signals (keep in mind, modern track signals might help trains...run faster).
AndCurbed found a possible silver lining: Regarding the subway stations that were slated for renovations--at least they won't be shut down now for the repairs!
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maybe stopping this ridiculous construction of the second avenue line would be a good idea.
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The subway stations listed for renovations are complete disaster zones. How much could it possibly be to actually fix sheet metal roofs and add a couple of drainage pipes? Every time it rains it feels like you're walking through waterfalls.
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I hate the MTA.
just sayin.
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Good thing we turned down that congestion pricing money. We didn't need it anyway.
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ughss
The really need to do something about the train service.
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Yeah, because all that congestion money would have magically righted all the MTA's wrongs instead of lining a handfull of individual's pockets.
Right.
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the MTA is an abomination
there is something dripping from the ceiling on the platform at the union Sq station that I noticed had corroded the rubber bumpers on the edge of the platform. Ok, thats pretty alarming. Dirty water would not corrode hard rubber so drastically, so what exactly is that substance dripping on unsuspecting riders as they wait for the train?
THEN on a different day I noticed the same thing a small distance from the first episode, except in this case it actually corroded a good bit of the cement as well.
Nasty stuff, commuting. first bed bugs, now this.
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Perhaps the real reason why they're thinking of upping the fares is because the price of a plain slice rose to $2.25.
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Good thing we used that magically-found $250 million surplus a few years ago for a holiday discount program! What a great use of funds!
Why is the MTA run by complete douchebags?
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when was the last good news to come from the MTA?
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Great News!
Some of our politicians are shaking their heads slowly saying "Tsk, tsk, tsk", others are wagging their fingers. But a few are giving...gasp...the fearsome shame-on-you index-finger-rubbing gesture.
That ought to teach the MTA for being such a naughty child.
(Sarcasm off)
Set up a Senate investigation into the MTA's practices immediately.
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To see the improvements we are making with your hard earned dollars check out: http://www.mtaservice.org
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They need to privatized MTA. As long as the gov't is involved, "delayed Service Improvements, Delayed Projects, Possible Fare Hike will always be a news, like a broken record.
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The one thing we do need is the 2nd avenue line. The Lexington Ave line is way overcrowded and will get 10x worse after the LIRR expansion into Grand Central.
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They should scrap the 2nd Avenue line. Costs are going to increase even more and it's not even going to be the full line! Save the money and just try to maintain the shit that's falling apart.
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CLEAN HOUSE! Fire the entire MTA board. Then, appoint RIDERS to the board - not rich bigwigs with free E-Z Passes who don't give a damn about slamming New Yorkers with a fare hike while "saving" the $2 fare.
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This has been the same story month after month and year after year.
Constant crying for money. There is plenty of money in the MTA, but it goes into the bloated paychecks for the board and workers and not into the system.
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The federal government does a poor job of funding any of our transportation projects. It's part of the stigma of NYC - outsider politicians view it as a deviant hellhole that has enough rich people to fend for itself. Therefore, every time our politicians ask for money (that is, when our politicians aren't spending 2 years on their presidential campaigns)their projects are quickly labeled as "PORK."
Yeah, the feds would have kicked in some money for congestion pricing, but why are there always so many conditions when it comes to NY? A couple of years ago I read that random Midwestern cities were getting millions upon millions of dollars for...terrorism prevention, while NYC got short changed...Riiiiight, b/c Lincoln, Nebraska and Des Moines, Iowa are significant threats.
Anyway, the point is that sometimes we need help from people other than the people who struggle to live here.
Any other ideas on how to finance these needed projects (and yes, the 2nd Ave subway line is necessary)? Should we have corporate sponsors for subway stations? Disney's Time Square/Port Authority? (I'm fine with it, if the Mikey Mouse people will eliminate that urine stench). Verizon Station at Fulton Street...96th Street subway brought to you by Subway...
We have to think outside the box. The box has been emptied and shit into.
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The MTA needs a dedicated funding stream I suggest turning over all bridge/tunnel tolls to them, as well as implementation of congestion pricing.
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I think the Federal Government should give the MTA a license to print money.
Then they could just make as much as they need instead of trying to work within a budget in a responsible way like every other fucking business has to.
We aren't asking for much here. Maintain the trains, fix some leaks, do something about the peeling ceiling paint found in most stations, maintain the elevators and escalators, sweep and mop every now and then.
How many billions of dollars a year does that take?
The MTA annual budget is over 10 BILLION dollars a year. http://tinyurl.com/6l6af2
It runs about 842 miles of track (646 passenger miles), plus buses service. http://www.nycsubway.org/faq/factsfigures.html
Norfolk Southern, a public company, runs about 22,000 miles of track with an operating cost of about 6.8 billion and revenues of about 9 billion. http://tinyurl.com/4j4vs6
Granted, it's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison, but still. The MTA is largely running on established lines, and is doing a crappy job on maintenance, constantly raising rates and burning through cash like there's no tomorrow. The MTA sucks.
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A bit? It's an entirely apples and oranges comparison. You could AT LEAST have found, I don't know, an actual urban transit agency to compare it to, rather than a freight rail company.
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Let's tax everyone and privatize NYC streets as JMH would like and see where we get.
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You can't run this shit like Amtrak. Either this NATION is committed to public transport, or it's not. You can step in here any time, Mr. Obama...
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Just a point of correction
Technically, modern signals do not gurantee faster trains, just closer together and therefore more
BTW..anyone who says that they should eliminate 2nd avenue is insane
The lexington corridor is so over-saturated that its approaching critical mass
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Here's the thing about the 2nd Avenue Subway.
As long as the MTA is heading this project, it'll be decades before the 2nd Ave Subway reaches 96th Street. It took them 30 years to finish the 63rd Street Tunnel and 20 years to finish fixing the Manhattan Bridge.
An excerpt from a 1992 U.S. Department of Transportation document called "Developing a Long-Range Transportation Plan" courtesy of www.nycsubway.org.
The main reason why the 70 year planning history of the Second Avenue line has never yielded a working subway is because its high capital cost and lengthy construction period always seem to place it just beyond our functional reach, so postponements become inevitable. The best way to avoid this in the future might be to adopt an "incremental" approach to its construction that would yield relatively early transportation benefits for each additional stage of investment...
The document suggested using trolleys as a stop gap, but nowadays Bus Rapid Transit would be more cost effective.
...Such a scenario might take a long time to play out completely. Possibly even as long as another 70 years. But during this period, new increments of service would be coming into operation. And we would retain the option to stop at any point (for a few years or forever) without losing the benefits of the investments already made.
Even after 16 years, this is the most candid and realistic outlook on subway construction in NYC.
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A bit? It's an entirely apples and oranges comparison. You could AT LEAST have found, I don't know, an actual urban transit agency to compare it to, rather than a freight rail company.
be my guest JMH. working on the fly, at least i provided some analysis and links. direct comparisons aren't exactly easy to make. When you're done with the research project, feel free to report your results.