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STATEMENT OF BOROUGH PRESIDENT MARKOWITZ AT THE MTA PUBLIC HEARING ON THE TRANSIT FARE, PROPOSED BOOTH CLOSURES AND TBTA TOLL INCREASES

Photograph by Kathryn Kirk

Good Afternoon.

The City’s mass transit system is the lifeline of millions of hard working New Yorkers, who have no choice but to use public transportation each and every day. Increased fares, cuts in services and closing our token booths will have a devastating impact on these residents, our economy, and our overall quality of life. With New York City’s unemployment rate at or near a record high, this is clearly not the time to even think about a fare increase.

Use of Brooklyn’s mass transit is among the highest in the City, with gains accounting for 36% of the Citywide increase for bus use, and 49% of the increase for subway ridership.

A fare increase is really an unfair tax on those who can least afford it like our seniors on fixed incomes or struggling students facing skyrocketing tuition bills. A fare increase, Governor Pataki, is really a job killing tax! Yet, the financial justification for a fare hike hasn't even been shown. The MTA is still talking about a $2.8 billion two-year deficit, while the City Independent Budget office pegs the two-year deficit at $952 million. We must immediately dust off the cobwebs and let the sunshine in on the MTA’s books so that everybody can see, once and for all, exactly how and where it is spending its cash.

If Comptroller Thompson's audit reveals a deficit that can't be closed internally, it should be primarily up to the State -- not the riders -- to come to the rescue. For too many years, New York State has shortchanged NYC transit users by inadequately funding NYC Transit's bus and subway capital programs. As a result, NYC Transit has increasingly had to use revenue-backed bonds to pay for essential purchases like new cars and signal systems, thereby saddling subway and bus passengers with mounting debt service payments.

The State also has over the years shortchanged New York City on operating aid, distributing a disproportionately large share of it Upstate. New York State has an obligation to shelter riders from the harmful impact of its past under-funding of the capital and operating budgets.

This is just one more example of how the City gives the State far more revenue than it receives back in aid – a $2.7 billion discrepancy.

There is also no way any token booths should be closed. The safety of our straphangers needs to be a top priority, but eliminating token booths is a dangerous trip in the wrong direction. My office field-inspected nearly all of the 50 locations where station booth closures in Brooklyn are planned, and, based on these inspections, I have sent NYC Transit a list of 24 locations where closures would have an especially harmful impact on security and, in many cases, convenience as well.

High Street station serving the A-train is a good example. The full-time booth that would be closed is located down a long corridor and at the top of a long escalator. Without the eyes and ears of a booth clerk, riders entering this isolated location would be extremely vulnerable to criminals. The day my staff visited, the MetroCard vending machine next to the booth to be closed was malfunctioning, so if a customer needed to buy a card to enter through the MetroCard turnstile there, they'd have to walk several long blocks to the booth that would remain open. The Bergen Street Station, serving the 2 and 3 trains, is another example. The turnstiles and the token booth on the Flatbush-bound side, which are both targeted for closure, are also very isolated down a long flight of stairs. The entrance and platform is not visible from the opposite side. As you can see, the Metrocard machine was on the fritz that day I was there. It would only accept change.

Even when they are working, MetroCard vending machines can’t call the police or an ambulance or help you with directions. The MTA has certainly gone high tech – there’s even talk of driverless subway cars – but we can’t make this a voice mail subway system. Also, there is a concern of whether closing token booths would violate the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Given the relatively small amount of money this proposal is projected to save -- $25 million – it should be immediately taken off the table.

The allocation of fare revenues also needs to be reviewed. As things stand now, revenues not only meet transit operating costs, but help support the capital program’s debt burden, reducing funds available for operations. The amount of operating costs supported by the fare requires immediate attention, particularly because the cost of transit travel within the MTA district is not borne equitably. New York City Transit users pay for 60% of subway and bus operating costs, while LIRR users pay for 44% of LIRR train costs, and Metro North Railway users pay for 54% of that system’s costs. New York City Transit riders pay a significantly larger proportional share, in effect subsidizing suburban commuters.

Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) facilities, including the three serving Brooklyn, play a major role in binding New York City together and their tolls support mass transit. The one-way toll on the Verrazano disproportionately burdens Brooklyn drivers, as if it were a tax, distorting travel patterns and burdening Brooklyn streets with excess traffic, without providing mitigation or financial relief to the City. Staten Island users of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge are entitled to a significant EZ Pass discount, as are Rockaway users of the Marine Parkway Bridge. However, Brooklyn residents who use these same facilities and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel are not provided similar relief. The one-way toll on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge must be eliminated.

We should never pay more but get less. Before we even begin to discuss raising fares, we need to keep our token booths open. Before we even begin to discuss raising fares, we need fix the dozens and dozens of broken escalators. Before we even begin to discuss raising fares, we need to resolve the serious problems plaguing the Access-a-Ride program. And before we even begin to discuss raising fares, we must not slash bus and subway service.

Brooklynites are never shy about expressing their opinions. And I am sure I speak for everybody all across New York when I say fare increase . . . fuggedaboutit!