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Fare Hike Should Not Affect Congestion Pricing Plan….

Posted by
on September 26th, 2007 at 5:52 am

Well that is what state commission panel Chairman Marc Shaw said yesterday. The panel was created to study ways to decrease traffic congestion in Manhattan. The main objective on their table is evaluating Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. Mr. Shaw feels that the MTA’s proposed fare hike should not be a factor when evaluation Mayor Bloomberg & said as much yesterday:

I would ask that we don’t let the word ‘fare’ fall into this debate; I think this commission has a hard enough job as it is

Here is a brief article about the situation courtesy of AMNY:

A state commission studying ways to reduce Manhattan traffic should not consider the impact of proposed transit fare and toll hikes in evaluating Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan, the panel’s chairman told members Tuesday.

“I would ask that we don’t let the word ‘fare’ fall into this debate,” said Chairman Marc Shaw, a former deputy mayor in the Bloomberg administration and former executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“I think this commission has a hard enough job as it is.”

The 17-member commission, meeting for the first time, is charged with studying the mayor’s plan, along with other traffic reduction proposals, and making a recommendation to the City Council and the state Legislature by Jan. 31, 2008.

The mayor wants to charge motorists $8 to drive into Manhattan below 86th street between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. as a means to reduce traffic and improve air quality.

The controversial plan failed to win state lawmakers’ approval in the spring. The Legislature instead created a commission to study the proposal. A federal transportation grant of $354 million hinges on the city and state by next March approving either congestion pricing or an alternative that reduces traffic by at least the 6.3 percent targeted in the mayor’s plan.

At the same time, the MTA is considering its first fare and toll hike since 2005, prompting some on the commission to wonder whether the increases would affect the estimated revenue from congestion pricing.

“A decision is going to be made about raising fares in February and the Legislature is going to consider all this [congestion pricing] in March — I think we have to talk about how we deal with those two political realities,” said panel member Gene Russianoff, a staff attorney for the Straphangers campaign.

“The fare hike and what we’re doing, they’re just directly related.”

For those who are interested in my opinion of Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion plan, click here!

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Congestion Pricing, Fare Hike
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Second Avenue Subway Getting More Funds!

Posted by
on September 26th, 2007 at 5:40 am

In a story I first read at Second Ave Sagas, the Second Avenue Subway is getting more federal funds. The increase announced yesterday was a staggering $1.3 billion dollars. For more details, I suggest reading Benjamin’s entry here.

I will end this entry with 2 statements:

    1. This is great news especially for Lexington Avenue riders
    2. It is about damn time the federal government steps up for straphangers in a truly needed project!
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0

Straphangers Campaign Calls Out The Government

Posted by
on September 26th, 2007 at 5:17 am

Yesterday, The Straphangers Campaign called out the government to help the MTA. NY1 had a brief article about The Straphangers Campaign’s feelings about what should be done. This also includes some details of what the fare hike should be. Here is the brief article courtesy of NY1:

The New York Public Interest Research Group’s Straphanger Campaign is proposing that local governments chip in to ease the MTA’s financial woes.

The Straphanger Campaign wants a fare hike of 10 cents instead of 25. They also suggest raising the price of a monthly pass by $2 instead of $6.

Straphangers say the state, city, and suburban counties served by the MTA should pay the difference, instead of making customers responsible for raising the $262 million that the increase would generate.

Here is an updated article courtesy of today’s edition of AMNY:

A rider advocacy group shot back Tuesday at the MTA’s two proposed fare hike scenarios, suggesting what it calls “a better way” to finance budget gaps in the years to come.

The Straphangers Campaign proposed a plan that cuts the base fare’s increase from a quarter to a dime and keeps the monthly MetroCard cost from going above $78. The Straphangers’ plan said if the city and state shoulder some of the burden of looming MTA budget deficits, more modest fare hikes are possible.

“Right now the burden is on the riders, and that’s not fair,” spokesman Gene Russianoff said.

The MTA offered two fare hike possibilities earlier this week, both raised the base fare to $2.25, while one offered discounts to riders who commute outside of peak travel times. The agency also outlined toll and commuter rail hikes.

The MTA has said technical challenges with MetroCard machines prevent a hike in anything other than 25-cent increments. The agency in July proposed fare hikes in 2008 and 2010, citing looming deficits.

The last hike to the base fare was in 2003. The MTA has said next year¹s proposed hike staves off future, more drastic increases and cuts in service.

“Certainly my preference would be not to do a fare and toll increase, but my responsibility is to ensure that the MTA is sound financially,” MTA executive director Elliot Sander said Tuesday.

I am not sure if their proposal for the fare hike is a good idea. I am of the belief that I rather get the whole thing out of the way now. I know the MTA & if they were to go with The Straphangers Campaign’s suggestions, they will sneak in another fare hike in 2 years. Who really feels like dealing with that? I know I don’t!

The Straphangers Campaign is 100% right about government needing to provide more funding. NYC gets the royal screw job when it comes to transportation funding from the local to the federal level.

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LIRR JFK – Lower Manhattan Link Funding….

Posted by
on September 26th, 2007 at 5:07 am

I forgot to blog about some important transit news in regards to funding from the federal government. Last Friday, The Senate approved $2 billion dollars for NYC to build a LIRR link to JFK Airport. The $2 billion is part of the $20 billion President Bush promised NYC after the 9/11 attacks. However there was some drama in the Senate Finance Committee because Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) tried to stop the bill.

Here is a brief article about the funding courtesy of the NY Daily News:

WASHINGTON – The Senate yesterday approved $2 billion for New York City to build a rail link to JFK Airport, part of $20 billion in rebuilding aid pledged by President Bush after the 9/11 attacks.

The funding, provided through special tax credits, must be authorized by a joint Senate-House panel before it can be doled out to the city. The Senate approved the tax credits over the objections of a lawmaker who said tornadoes do as much damage as 9/11.

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) tried to stop the bill in the Senate Finance Committee by claiming, “There are other tragedies that can hit, obviously we had the tornadoes, you know, that hit.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who led the funding drive, called that “unfair and wrong.”

“It was an evil attack, which our city is still suffering from,” Schumer lectured Ensign.

Personally I do not support this project as it seems to be a waste of funds. Lets be frank here, can you name one train to plane setup that was a success? I know the AirTrain might come to mind but questions still exist on its impact & effectiveness as a viable option.

I’ll be honest, I have been a big critic of a number of LIRR related ideas over the last year or so. Of the two main proposals, I would support East Side Access over a JFK-Lower Manhattan link. As much as I am against both projects, I feel that East Side Access would serve a more legitimate use to the overall riding public.

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4

Ehh $2.25……

Posted by
on September 24th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

Without question, today’s major transit story is the release of two sets of details for the MTA’s proposed fare hike. Each plan would raise the base fare from $2.00 to $2.25. However there are some differences as one proposal would keep the fares at one base price while the other proposal would base fares on what time you are riding. Here is a quick breakdown of each proposal.

Proposal #1:

    Base Fare: $2.25
    Express Bus Fare: $5.25
    Weekly & Monthly Passes: Approximately 4% increase (About $25 or $79)
    14 Day Unlimited Pass: $45
    Metrocard Bonus For Cards $10+: 20% bonus to bring the average ride to $1.88

Proposal #2:

    Base Fare: $2.25
    Express Bus Fare: $5.00
    Weekly & Monthly Passes: Approximately 6.5 – 8% increase (About $26 & $81)
    14 Day Unlimited Pass: $45
    Metrocard Bonus: No bonus; Buy a $6+ card & pay $2.25 per ride during peak ridership times & $1.50 during non peak ridership times

I do not support these fare hikes but I think The Subway Blogger said it best:

The fare hike is just a reality that is going to happen.

As much as I hate to see this fare hike go through, he is 100% right. I don’t see this fare hike being stopped although I like many others feel it should be. I would only support a fare hike if we were guaranteed better service, equipment, & facilities. However this is the MTA we are talking about & I don’t ever see all 3 of those issues being at above average levels at the same time.

The saddest part of all of this is how the MTA has not exhausted every possible funding solution available. They also have not shown the ability to manage & optimize the funds at their disposal. As usual the straphanger ends up paying for decisions out of our control.

What a great world we live in!

P.S. Commuter railroad customers get yet another big foot up the ass which is of no surprise to anyone….

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