Statement on MTA fare increases and service cuts

Good evening and thank you for holding this hearing tonight.

I want to start my thanking the men and women that keep this city moving safely 365 days a year. My family has used public transportation since they were kids growing up in Brooklyn and they taught me the importance of it, especially since I grew up in Staten Island - a much underserved borough.

The problem with politically appointed public entities is that often the most qualified individuals don't get chosen for the job. While they may have great intentions, intentions don't solve complex problems - good intentions don't fix massive budget gaps and transportation conundrums.

For far too long, the public has been hearing about "filling a gap" and that's not the gap between the train and the platform - it’s the gap between mismanaged and poorly forecasted budgets and reality. And for far too long, the public has filled this gap.

Now is the time, in 2009, that we overhaul our fleet of political appointments and get professionals in to do the job and to do the job right. It is time that mismanagement and unaccountability in government is not rested on the shoulders of working class New Yorkers.

These fare increases couldn’t be anything from fare! From doubling senior citizen access-a-ride fares, to raising bridge tolls 10 times the rate of inflation to taking away discounts for residents to cross a bridge, this time the MTA has gone too far. I have a message for everyone here tonight, including the MTA board: Throwing money at a problem does not fix a problem. It never has and never will. It only prolongs the inevitable.

In August, I wrote to the MTA and the NYC Transit Authority suggestion ways to raise revenue and save money, while not costs riders or taxpayers a dime, through an “Adopt a Subway Station” program and a new advertising program, similar to the one implemented for street furniture by the NYC Department of Transportation. I was happy to receive a response and hear that the Transit Authority was considering some of my suggestions. We need new ideas and new leadership to keep our transit system affordable and moving into the future.

It is time to not only revamp the entire MTA and our entire transit system, but look closely at the way our government and its countless agencies work (or better yet, don't work) for taxpayers.

I say no to fare increases and I say no to this board and as a taxpayer and candidate for public office, I voice my vote of no confidence in the Metropolitan Transit Authority.