Results tagged “servicecuts”

After the MTA's Finance Committee voted yesterday to approve a package of severe fare increases (hello, $103 monthly unlimited Metrocard) and drastic service cuts (good-bye, W and Z lines; farewell, bus routes—see the PDF of NYC Transit changes here), MTA board member Allen Cappelli said, "There are 45 hours left before this disaster goes into effect." The MTA board is scheduled to vote on the fare hikes tomorrow.

      

Last night, hundreds people crowded a ballroom at the Hilton for the MTA's first public hearing on the proposed fare hikes and service cuts. Leona Adams, an 86-year-old, spoke out against raising Access-a-Ride fares 250% (or higher): "The medical field has extended our lives to whatever age we are...yet if we are not able to continue our active lives that Access-A-Ride allows, then we will become burdens to our family, the city, the state and the nation."

If the MTA's service cuts announced earlier this week do in fact go into effect, 1.3 million New Yorkers will be affected by the changes. During the press conference Thursday, MTA heads Elliot Sander and Dale Hemmerdinger encouraged straphangers to contact their reps in Albany as a last resort to bail out their 1.2 billion deficit. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver must have heard the call because yesterday he suggested a tax to help alleviate the burden on the MTA saying, "I am not afraid of a reasonable, responsible tax being part of the solution." The only additional good news following the announcement of cuts is that with the W train gone, plans are to extend the Q to Astoria.

Now, that the MTA's 2009 budget gap has quadrupled from $300 million to $1.2 billion, the agency is trying to figure out what to do next to close the gap. Regarding likely service cuts, fare hikes and possible layoffs, MTA CEO Elliott Sander said, "The word 'Draconian' is not inappropriate."

A pilot program to keep subway stations cleaner on the No. 7 and L lines was a success, but transit officials are balking at the cost of implementing it citywide, which would be approximately $100 million. The test run increased the number of cleaners at all stations on two subway lines, providing round the clock service; an MTA analysis found that those stations had heavy litter just 10% of the time, down from 33% before the pilot program. But NYC Transit would have to hire an additional 1,575 cleaners and spend nearly $230,000 per hub to meet those standards, the Daily News reports. And $100 million is no small potatoes in a time when the MTA is facing a nearly $1 billion budget deficit and considering service cuts. [Photo cred.]

Get ready for primal screams across the region, if the MTA decides to cut subway, bus, and rail service as it faces its nearly $1 billion-deficit next year. The Daily News reports that MTA CFO Gary Dellaverson said the agency "recently told its divisions to detail ways to cut spending by about 4.5% in the event the economy deteriorates beyond the MTA's latest budget projections - or if city and state funding isn't increased to levels sought by the MTA."

Gov. Paterson is proposing cutting $60 million from the MTA's $10 billion operating budget. That's less than 1%, but further decreases in real estate revenues could make an even larger dent in the budget. According to the New York Post, real estate revenues were off $31 million this month, which could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The effect on riders will not make many happy: possible service cuts and another fare hike in the near future.