NEW YORK—Council Member Tony Avella testified in opposition to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) proposed fare increases and service reductions at their Queens Borough public hearing on Tuesday.
“While I understand the severity of the budget situation that the MTA is facing, I am strongly opposed to placing the financial burden of closing the gap on New Yorkers and especially those who are least able to pay for the fare increases and suffer through service reductions” stated Avella.
“Instead of increasing fees, the MTA should focus its efforts to cut administration costs and reform its internal organizational and managerial structure. The MTA should also develop alternative funding sources instead of relying on the hard earned dollars of low to middle income families,” said Avella.
The MTA is currently facing a budget deficit of $1.2 Billion dollars for 2009, $300 million more than it anticipated last July. Many fixes have been proposed to solve the MTA’s financial woes, including tolls on the East River crossings.
City Comptroller William Thompson proposed a number of options for the MTA to close its budget gap in a press release issued on Jan. 14th, including establishing a weight-based registration fee for vehicles in the 12 counties served by the MTA. His plan, in conjunction with the reinstatement of a commuter tax, would provide more than $1.8 billion annually in transit funds to the MTA and help avert the tolling of the free East River and Harlem River bridges, which places a financial burden on the residents of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.
The Comptroller also called on City Hall to take a stand and block the proposed increase in Access-A-Ride fares from $2 to as much as $5 per trip, an increase of 150%. The City has the ability to block the fare as a result of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed upon by the MTA and the City in 1993.
Avella has also called for the MTA to be disbanded and the control of the city’s trnsot system to be handed over the City. Avella renewed his call for the City Council resoution 44 which he introduced last year, which calls upon the New York State Legislature to remove the New York City Transit (NYCT) and the MTA Bus Company from the control of the MTA and transfer control to the City of New York.
“It is incomprehensible that a city of this size and complexity is now virtually silenced in its ability to impact important decisions concerning the functioning of its own transportation system” said Avella.
“This is in stark contrast to other major metropolitan cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, which play either a significant role in the planning and operations of their public transportation systems”
“We must finally take action and take control of our transportation system. It is time for the MTA to be broken up.” Concluded Avella.
Friends Read Free