February 27, 2009 at 11:31 am
(via Editorial – A Smart Way to Help Commuters – NYTimes.com)
It’s been clear for months that only Albany could really rescue New York City commuters from the drastic service cuts and major increases in tolls and fares threatened by the deficit-ridden Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
That seemed a hopeless prospect — until this week, when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Albany’s most powerful Democrat, announced a compromise plan that could help both the authority and its riders. What is even more encouraging, Mr. Silver is probably the only one in Albany with enough clout to sell such a compromise.
The Silver plan is adapted in part from an excellent proposal outlined last year by Richard Ravitch, the authority’s former chairman. Mr. Ravitch and a commission established to find new ways to finance mass transit proposed two changes: a modest payroll tax for employers in a 12-county area and new tolls on bridges to Manhattan along the Harlem and East Rivers.
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February 24, 2009 at 12:06 am
(Source: NYTimes.com)
Plummeting tax and fare revenues that have been depressed further by the ailing economy could increase the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s budget deficit this year by $650 million, according to a new estimate made public on Monday. If the doomsday forecast is borne out, the authority’s deficit this year could grow to nearly $2 billion.
Subway ridership fell 2 percent in January compared with last year.
The authority has already proposed a steep increase in fares and deep service cuts if it does not get a state bailout. But if its finances worsen significantly, it could be forced to take even more drastic measures.
“This is obviously breathtaking,” Gary Dellaverson, the authority’s chief financial officer, said as he presented the projections to a meeting of the authority board’s finance committee.
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February 22, 2009 at 12:21 am
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
(source: silive.com)
Once the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was paid for, motorists would be free from paying a toll to cross it.
So goes the urban legend, repeated for nearly half a century and believed by countless Islanders who fervently evoke it at toll-hike hearings, in letters to the Advance, or in casual conversation when the E-ZPass bill arrives.
But like the one that claims feeding Alka-Seltzer to a pigeon will cause the bird to explode, consider this myth debunked.
According to Joyce Mulvaney, a spokeswoman for MTA Bridges & Tunnels, which operates the bridge, “We have searched our archives and can find no documentation for the statement and, given the structure of our bonds, as backed by toll revenue, it doesn’t make sense that anyone would make such a statement — now or then.”
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February 21, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Source: New York Press
The New York Times reports that MTA ridership on both subways and buses is up: “Despite a slumping economy, New York City Transit recorded a total of 2.37 billion rides across the city’s subways and buses in 2008, a 3.1 percent increase from 2007 and the highest figure since 1965.”
That “despite” beginning the lede sentence makes very little sense. OF COURSE ridership would be up in a weakened economy: PUBLIC transportation should be the most affordable, efficient way to get from one point to another. Who can afford taxis or car insurance and parking? Are we supposed to be walking the length of the island. It should actually read: DESPITE massive service delays and inconveniences, MTA ridership is up. In fact,some people think the subway should be FREE!
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