Is it me, or does it seem terribly ironic that MTA has to raise fares (in some cases by as much as $50 a month!) to shore up its budget (“M.T.A. Is Set to Approve Higher Fares and Service Cuts”, NY Times, March 24, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/nyregion/24mta.html?_r=1&hpw).
Public transportation brings people to jobs. Without it, many people can’t work. The NY metropolitan region runs on public transportation. The concentration of people and jobs could not exist were it not for the subway, the buses and commuter rail lines. So why, at a time when President Obama is trying to jump start the economy by investing in the nation’s transportation system, do we have to essentially “tax” the very people who make the metro region work?
After travelling in the metro area’s transportation circles for more than 20 years (as a rail commuter and a transportation professional) I suspect that there are likely to be forces up in Albany that are seeking money for suburban transit systems that are also suffering budget deficits. MTA will surely benefit from loads of stimulus money for capital projects. But it is the operating side that needs to be funded so towns, cities, counties, states and entire metro areas can leverage previous investment in rolling stock and infrastructure by growing ridership and increasing service. Limiting stimulus dollars to building stuff overlooks the benefits that a reasonably priced, responsive transit system can bring to workers–allowing them to get to work and open up more job possibilities as the commute trip is eased by good service.
Tags: commuting by public transit, fare increases, M.T.A., transit service cuts, transit systems
