Photo credit: Marla Maritzer

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. testifies before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board regarding the MTA's proposed 2009 budget on Wednesday, December 17, 2008.

View Letter to Mayor Bloomberg

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. testified today before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board at a 2009 budget hearing inside MTA Headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

“As the City Comptroller, I know that there are often tough financial decisions to make – and while we are in the midst of a recession, we must do all we can to help avoid drastic fare hikes and loss of vital transportation services,” Thompson said. “I have proposed ways to help ease the burden on the riders of the MTA by raising funds to help close the budget gap.”

Comptroller Thompson has proposed a number of options for the MTA to close its budget gap, including establishing a weight-based registration fee for vehicles in the 12 counties served by the MTA.  This 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, placing an undo financial burden on the residents of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.

In addition, Comptroller Thompson recently 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. 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.  He reiterated that call today.

The full testimony is below:

“Good morning, Chairman Hemmerdinger and MTA Board Members, and to all of you who have come to testify today. I appreciate the chance to speak today as you vote on the 2009 budget.

As the City Comptroller, I know that there are often tough financial decisions to make – and especially now in a recession that has hit New York City and the region very hard. I also understand that the Board is expected to pass a balanced budget rather than one built on speculation or the hope that City Hall, Albany or Washington will come through with funds.

But I want to be clear: this budget is just plain unacceptable. Riders who already are struggling cannot bear a 23 percent fare hike that could bring the price of one ride to $2.50 and a monthly pass to $104, according to the Independent Budget Office. Subway riders who already face unbelievable crowding will find fewer trains – with the W and the Z shut down completely. Bus riders will stand out in the cold waiting longer for buses. And 21 bus lines would be eliminated altogether.

That’s unacceptable. And I will work hard to make sure that those cuts and hikes don’t happen by speaking out and working in Albany and here in New York with good ideas to prevent them.

But there is one hike – the Access-A-Ride hike – that is particularly onerous. It should be stopped right now, right here. And I’m asking you to withdraw it.

If you don’t, the Mayor has the legal authority to say no to this tremendously unfair increase – and there is not reason he shouldn’t do so before you vote today. I urge the City’s representatives to make sure the increase is removed. There is still time.

Yesterday, I released copy of the Memorandum of Understanding from 1993 between the MTA and the City of New York. It clearly states that the fare on Access-A-Ride cannot be raised beyond the base fare level without the approval of the City of New York. The MTA cited the M.O.U. when it proposed the hike in November.

There have been other fiscal crises before. But no mayor has ever allowed such an unconscionable increase in a fare that will hit those people who can least afford it – Access-A-Ride users. They should not have to choose between going to work or having food in the house, taking a ride to the doctor or paying for medicine. A $10 round-trip when the rest of us are paying far less is not only unfair, it is reprehensible.

How should we pay for transit? First, we make sure that all parties who benefit from transit pay for it. I applaud Chairman Richard Ravitch and his Commission, which have laid out a smart program that does just that.

The Commission’s report calls for innovation by bringing Bus Rapid Transit to New York City. It calls for more transparency at the MTA. And it calls on business and drivers – who benefit greatly from a healthy transit system – to contribute their fair share.

I have raised serious objections to the East River and Harlem River bridge toll proposals. But I have offered a smarter, fairer approach to raising money from drivers with my proposal for a weight-based registration fee on vehicles across the 12-county MTA region.

Bridge tolls would disproportionately penalize working people and small business from the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, forcing them to pick up a major share of transit costs. I have already documented how MTA and State funding formulas give City transit a raw deal. Now City residents would be carrying even more of the funding responsibility.

But all drivers benefit from our transit system, which keeps so many cars off the roads, whether they are crossing the Williamsburg Bridge or Westchester’s Cross County Parkway. That is why my alternative plan also calls on all drivers across the region to support transit, but without disproportionately impacting New Yorkers already feeling a tightening squeeze on their pocketbooks.

My alternative: a weight-based vehicle registration fee in all 12 counties served by the MTA that is far fairer than tolls. My proposal assesses drivers across the region an additional weight-based fee of $100 for vehicles weighing 2,300 pounds or less, plus 9 cents for every pound over 2,300 pounds.

My office estimates that my plan could generate annual revenue of about $1 billion, while encouraging the use of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. When combined with a reinstated commuter tax, my plan could generate almost $2 billion annually for our transit needs.

And we do all this without the expensive infrastructure that tolling requires – infrastructure that would cost $400 million annually.

I will reach out to my colleagues in Albany to win support for my proposal – and for full funding to fix and keep the transit operating and in good repair – this winter. I hope you will join me. The alternative – this cuts and hikes in this budget – is just too onerous for the people of New York City.”

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