Gotta bail out rails: pols Call for MTA handout to dodge cuts
MTA leaders are clawing for another huge government bailout, and a group of Albany Democrats is urging Gov. Hochul to hand them one.
In a letter to Hochul on Nov. 28, the 30 Assembly members led by Amy Paulin (Westchester) and Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (Queens) called for extra funds to avoid service cuts, and instead increase frequency of trains and buses to every six minutes.
“Without saving and stabilizing public transit, New York’s economy will crater, our communities become isolated, and our existential climate targets will be utterly beyond reach,” the letter obtained by The Post states.
“To meet the moment, we must not only save the public transit New York depends on, but also invest in its growth and leverage existing infrastructure to run buses and trains more frequently and reliably, cut long waits, shorten trip times, and attract more riders.”
The letter comes after state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli warned last week that the MTA may have to enact severe service cuts and fare hikes to recoup prepandemic revenue levels.
The authority has long depended on fares to keep trains and buses running, but that funding model has become outmoded as fewer New Yorkers are opting to ride the subways.
Ridership way down
Ridership levels dropped more than 90% in the initial weeks of the pandemic and are expected to remain as low as just 73% of prepandemic levels come the middle of 2026, according to the projections by consultants at McKinsey & Co.
A $15 billion cumulative infusion of federal cash over 2020 and 2021 temporarily secured the MTA’s budget. The agency needs $600 million for 2023, plus more than $1 billion for each of the subsequent three years, according to its most recent budget forecast.
As things stand, the MTA would still have to hike fares 11% by 2026 to more than $3 a ride if Hochul only closes those gaps, but does not provide funds to fend off a price increase.
While the letter does not directly address hikes, Gonzalez-Rojas told The Post that failure to stave off the increase or fund the MTA would be detrimental to the system and its riders.
“We really don’t want to see the fare increases that are being proposed, and we don’t want to see cuts in service,” she said. “People aren’t going to get back into the offices if they’re going to have to pay more or get less service.”
Frequent service is also important for improving safety, said the assemblywoman.
“We really need to ensure that service continues to run in a reliable way,” she said. “When you’re standing on a dark corner waiting 20 minutes for the bus, that doesn’t feel safe.” The pols, who all represent counties served by the MTA, also called for more frequent commuter rail service.
Speaking on WABC-TV on Sunday, MTA CEO Janno Lieber agreed that a big fare hike would devastate riders.
“We don’t want a massive fare hike. It wouldn’t be fair to the people, most of them working- and middle-class New Yorkers who have been riding through COVID,” he said. “I have called on Washington, Albany and City Hall, who all have a role to play, to come together and find a solution to this . . . budget deficit.”
Officials had planned to raise fares earlier this year, but Hochul provided state funding that allowed her appointed MTA leadership to delay such hikes “indefinitely.” A 4% fare hike is currently scheduled for next year and again in 2025, according to the MTA’s most recent financial documents.
Officials would have to raise fares 19% on top of that to match pre-COVID revenue, according to the comptroller’s office.