Today’s New York Times editorial on New York’s transit funding crisis goes beyond general warnings about the need to fund transit and digs into specifics: Raise bridge tolls, resist election year tax-cutting, hold the line on pay raises, and this:
What it should not mean is doing away with free passes for needy students. Both the state and city will have to contribute more to help pay $214 million a year to help keep these students in school.
Perhaps they read this.
The current average fare, since the enactment of free transfers and discount cards in the last ten years, is still way below what it was before these policies were put into place. This was all well and good when the policies led to huge ridership increases, and when NYC could depend on the shenanigans going on over on Wall Street to make up for any shortfalls, but that’s all in the past. Throw in the cost of labor which continues to rise while salaries and tax receipts are falling for everyone else, and it’s pretty clear why we’re seeing this trouble now.