NY1: "Lawmakers Call For Mayor To Put More Money Into City Transit"

This is from December 3rd:

Lawmakers and advocates are pushing Mayor Michael Bloomberg to put the brakes on the MTA's proposed fare hike and pour more money into the transit system.

They say the city could keep the fares down if it contributed more to the MTA's annual budget. Critics say the city's funding only accounts for about four percent of the $5.7 billion annual budget for running subways and buses.

They want the city to give more.

"You can build a world class transit system, or you can nickel and dime it to death. You can't do both,” said TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint. “Mayor Bloomberg can be helpful to millions of New Yorkers who rely on mass transit and to the local economy that it powers – all he has to do is speak up.”

Not that I necessarily disagree, but isn't this the same Roger Toussaint who cost the city's economy probably around a billion dollars by frivolously (and illegally) striking in late 2005? Nickel and diming indeed! I'd be curious to know what could be done to cut the fat in the New York City Transit workforce.

Of course, there is one thing the city probably could, and maybe should, do to bring down costs over the long run: pay down some MTA debt.* Failing to pay down this debt is going to mean interest on it keeps piling up. Under Giuliani and Pataki, the MTA borrowed heavily to meet its operating costs, which is dangerous and moronic. Such a thing might circumvent future fare hikes; maybe not the next one, but perhaps one in 2030.

* I know, it's sort of like what the anti-New York New York Post wanted when it said the city should use its surplus to "DO THE RIGHT THING." However, the difference is that we actually gain more by paying down MTA debt; in the long-run, we'll be paying the state debt down anyway (we do send more to Albany than we get back, afterall).