You might be paying $228 each year to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), whether you use public transportation or not. At least, that is what the average person in the New York region is paying, for a total of $2.9 billion. MTA fees are found in your vehicle registration, utility
bills, and at the gas pump, where you pay the MTA over 16 cents for each gallon you buy. There is also a payroll tax that provides the MTA with $1.34 billion each year. Governor Andrew Cuomo comments, “It is a very onerous tax. It’s not just in this area, people are complaining about it on Long Island, the entire metropolitan region…”
The MTA has also raised its tolls five times in the last seven years, sometimes as much as 17%. Even as fares rise, service cuts abound. New York bus routes have been cut and private companies have tried to step in, but the economics are difficult. Some routes have been heavily subsidized and would cost riders $19 per ride, much higher than the $5.50 they are used to paying. Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos is looking into options to save Long Island
Bus, saying, “Most LI Bus system riders cannot afford to lose this trusted form of transportation.”
However, even as the MTA cut nearly 700 jobs in 2009, it continued to give wage increases, raising the payroll by another $70 million. “The increase…was mainly a result of built-in wage raises provided under multi-year labor contracts previously agreed upon through collective bargaining,” spokesman Aaron Donovan explained. “We held costs down as much as we could by decreasing the number of positions and freezing pay for management.”
Assemblyman Dean Murray comments that the MTA’s issue lies “on the expenditure side, not the revenue side of their balance sheet” and says, “Residents and commuters who rely on the MTA every day for transportation are fed up with the MTA’s blatant mismanagement and waste.”
However, MTA says it is working to correct the issues and posted a report on January 28, 2011
called “Making Every Dollar Count.” In the report, chairman & CEO Jay H. Walker states the company is reducing operating expenses through “the most aggressive cost-cutting in the history of the MTA.”
“We identified more than $525 million in recurring savings,” Walker announces, “by consolidating back office functions into a new Business Service Center, reducing our administrative payrolls, cutting unnecessary overtime, and even convincing our suppliers to renegotiate contracts.” He also promises the MTA will be improving their service to customers. The full report is posted on the MTA’s Website, along with a contact page for customers wishing to comment.