Mar 13, 2009 1:17 pm US/Eastern
MTA Doomsday Plan May Be On The Fast Track To NYC
Albany Struggling To Get Out Of Its Own Way; 'Ravitch Plan' Not Making Hay With The Right Lawmakers
Base Fare May Go Up 50 Cents; 30-Day Card May Go Up $22
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority may be on the verge of boosting fares by 30 percent.
The board is holding an emergency meeting Friday to consider all options now that a state bailout seems unlikely.
Albany bumbling -- the inability of Senate Majority Leader Malcom Smith to rally his members -- has derailed the "Ravitch Plan" to save the MTA with bridge tolls and a payroll tax. No bailout means only one thing: commuters pay.
"The MTA board has tough choices to make. They've already made it very clear that if there isn't financial help they have no choice but to raise the fare and make hundreds of millions of dollars in service cuts," Richard Ravitch said.
The emergency MTA meeting will be to lay out the doomsday options, but transit advocates already know how much pain commuters will face if Albany doesn't come through.
"The base fare could go from $2 to $2.50 and something like a 30-day unlimited ride MetroCard. It's $81 now, but they're talking about it rising to $103. That's a price I associate with the Broadway theatre, not with taking subways and buses," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers' Campaign.
Commuters are outraged.
"I think it's horrible. I wonder where they think people are going to get it from," said Glenda Lee of the Bronx.
"Why kill the little guys? They're always trying to kill the little guys," added Jose Velez of the West Side.
"I come from New Jersey and it's already expensive enough and then they want to increase the subway fares? It's going to be crazy," said Jyazmin Galindo of Morris Plains.
"The services are not getting better and the prices just keep going up," said Susan Nashe.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is on board with a bailout plan. The problem is the Senate.
"The doomsday budget of the MTA board is unacceptable to this conference, period. We don't want a 31 percent fare increase. We don't want substantial service cuts," Silver said.
"I personally don't think it's a great idea to be raising anything. People are losing their jobs every single day. This is not the time to start this right now," said MTA Board member Norman Seabrook.
The timetable is tight. D-day is March 25. The fare hikes would go into effect on June 1.
MTA officials said there is no wiggle room. That March 25 deadline is the absolute cutoff. If there's no bailout that's the day they will enact the fare hikes and service cuts.
CBS 2's Marcia Kramer and Deborah Garcia contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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