The MTA's chief financial officer painted a dire, depressing picture of the future yesterday. Speaking to the Finance Committee, Bob Foran estimated that because of ballooning debt, the MTA may have no choice but to raise subway and bus fares by approximately four-and-a-half times the last fare increase, Reuters reports. The problem, as Second Avenue Sagas elucidates, is that the MTA has to spend more and more money maintaining its aging infrastructure, and that investment, unlike expansion projects, doesn't lead to any increased revenue. more ›

After word that the MTA will raise fares in 2009 and 2011 due to huge financial shortfalls, many people called for the MTA to be privatized. And with Governor Paterson suggesting that maybe some public properties should be sold because of NY State's budget crisis, perhaps that idea is not too far off. However, Mayor Bloomberg weighed in against the idea of selling the MTA, saying, "It will not save you, necessarily, a lot of money...You could get somebody to do it, but they wouldn't save you very much money because the potential for making a lot of money isn't there." In other words, he's not interested! more ›