Bloomberg: If Kids Lose Fare Cards, MTA Retirees Should Too

If the free fares-for-life is written into the union contract, good luck getting rid of those. The government can't really interfere in those sorts of agreements.

However, they can insist that all those folks who get free cards treat them as income, and have to pay taxes on the value of the cards. I'm not sure whether this is the case, now. While it wouldn't be a great recoupment, it would certainly deminish the burden and put some money back in the coffers for city gov't.

the retiree passes should be eliminated but only for those retirees who are not fully retired.if they continue to work other full-time jobs after retiring (including 1099 consulting) they can afford to pay their fares and should not get a free ride.

passes should be issued based upon need alone.

EVERYONE pays something. Elderly and students need a discount.

City,state and federal employees are no different than me (Joe Shmoe). They should pay full fare. There are quite a few benefits (I am already paying for) that come along with these jobs that me (Joe Shmoe) are not fortunate enough to have.

Maybe if my tax dollars went to help me directly it would be better spent.

Careful, Mr. Shmoe, you're on a slippery slope to becoming a teabagger.

you people act like kids in this city actually go to school anyway! the retirees however, require the free card to help the economy by going to places, and buying necessities.

This is a no-brainer- cut the benefit.

That said, all you people blaming the unions for the MTA's woes are way off base.

Union members don't (mis)balance the books, management does.

Check out management's roll sometime.

At least SOME members of the TWU do some actual work we benefit from.

All management has done is mismanage their books, raise fares, and cut service.

Think they're not getting ridiculous incentives?

Or doing anything kind of work?

This is what they do with their six-figure jobs...

http://gothamist.com/2009/04/11/being_a_beatles_girlfriend_leave_li.php

They have lifetime riding benefits also, although they've never even ridden the subway; they prefer to take a company car.

Well Mr.Bloomberg! Medicare is already f#@cking the older folks every which way they can, do you really want to go there?

So that's all Bloomberg's got to say huh?

F** UNIONS!!

Fat?

ha no FOCK...trying to not get 'censored' on gothamist.

I think you can write fuck.

municipal unions will kill our economy, and socialism will be the only option. someone might want to start questioning Obama's allegiances pretty soon.

All municipal, state and federal employees should conform to the same rules as everyone else. Given their ridiculous salaries, lack of productivity, incompetence and rudeness, it seems time to reduce their count, reduce their salaries, and retroactively reduce their benefits (it would take a change to New York constitution, however, the city and state are veering to bankruptcy and no one wants to pay more fees for bad services).

A threat of a strike should be taken and the all should be fired. Plently of people would be happy to take these buffoons jobs at 80% of their salaries and 60% of the benefits. The budget gap would quickly be closed and the city, state and country would be more competitive.

hey...hey there, not ALL city employees do nothing! I am a NYC teacher and I work more and harder than most people I know in the private sector.

Fire every single worthless member of the TWU.

Actually - why not hang the cuts on those in MTA management, whose fiscal irresponsibility (and reliance on "complicated financial instruments") led to this mess.

No? Because it is easier for Bloomberg to rail against the unions - who by the way have a legal agreement in place. A bit hypocritical as Bloomy defended banker bonus' because they are tied to "legal agreements".

Right. Sorry to be so cranky - Bloomberg is really getting on my nerves.

how about just enforcing tickets for people who ride the subway for free? i often see some people just jumping the turnstile. $100 for a ticket, and you may even make up for all the money. ;)

Great idea, but more enforcement means more cops to enforce it, or at least, more cop OT. Even at $100 a pop, I doubt you'll see significant revenue.

yeah, i figured. but there should be a better way. and my hunch is that someone may be getting away with a lot of money in the upper management area. do you know how much mta makes daily? these should be publicized.

They are.

MTA financials:

http://www.mta.info/mta/ind-finance/index.html

Payrolls, expenditures & contracts of all New York State governmental bodies and authorities:

http://seethroughny.net/Payrolls/tabid/55/Default.aspx

If kids loose the free MTA benefit - it follows that Bloomberg should find a way to provide school buses for all of the NYC children. If they didn't live in NYC - their town would be required to provide this. The MTA is a good way for the city to save money that it would otherwise use on buses.

My second point is that - our kids have enough barriers in their way to an education. Graduation rates are finally improving, as are test scores. Find a way to provide this essential benefit to our kids! It is outrageous to me that retirees get this benefit when they are the ones who need it least!!!

I could see where the Mayor is coming from if it were the MTAs job to provide students with free transportation, but it's not. That's the city and state governments job.

Not meant for avrilyn.

Even school buses in places without mass transit are not always free. Only low-income and poor people are exempt from paying. The same should be here.

ABSOLUTELY GET RID OF THIS BENEFIT! The TWU contract is one reason that the MTA is continually crippled. It's time to overhaul the thing, ditch some of these absurd bennies and all of the insanely archaic work rules. That, and a massive refinancing of existing debt and a limit on future borrowing might actually turn the MTA around.

i still can't believe they're condemning students to paying for their own metrocards. children's quality of education being decided entirely by where they live-- hasn't this been a persistent problem that they're aware of?? do they not see the connection here?

Ultimately it would be the parents (me, Joe Shmoe) paying for the children.

Don't ya love Bloomie? NOT.

The problem is also that there are too many parents who don't consider their children a priority, especially not their education, and won't pay. And what happens then? I don't think many children can afford to have a disincentive to go to school.

I agreed with Bloomberg on this one, there is no reason to offer free rides for life, especially since many of these retirees are eligible for half-fare cards anyway.

I'll go one step further and say that even ACTIVE employees cards should not be free outside their tour of duty, either.

That all being said, the extra revenue earned from either or both of these measures is akin to a band-aid on a gaping chest wound.

It would be good PR for the MTA, though, especially for a company who's idea of good PR is sitting back and getting sucker-punched by the press while Albany gets little to no blame for the problem.

But, but, but, aren't old retirees the most special and deserving of all people? Aren't we supposed to destroy the whole world to satisfy their whims? That would seem to be the elderly voting record.

"After years of fiscal irresponsibility by the state government and the MTA, Mayor Bloomberg wants to hang the current fiscal woes around the necks of the elderly, our retirees, and that's not right," he said.

Less kids going to school --> less kids with jobs --> less tax revenue --> less jobs for TWU employees