BP MARKOWITZ STATEMENT ON MTA’S LATEST TRANSIT FARE PROPOSAL

“I was pleased that the Governor took a step in the right direction by announcing a freeze on the base subway fare. It seemed at that time that MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger and Executive Director Lee Sander heard the message that Assembly Member James Brennan and I, along with several other public officials, called for at both our press conference in Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza and at the MTA’s Brooklyn fare hearing on November 5th—asking that the MTA wait until the legislature considers both increased MTA funding and the NYC Congestion Pricing Initiative.

Unfortunately, the fare increases announced today for multi-trip weekly and monthly card users shift the burden to working Brooklynites and New Yorkers, who should be the last people asked to foot the bill.

Of course, I continue to welcome the Governor’s public promise to substantially increase state subsidies to the MTA operating budget in the future, and I would like all reasonably-minded public officials to work together to assist him and the legislature to devise an equitable funding formula that takes the burden off the straphanger, keeps all fares frozen until that day arrives—and requires the government to finally do its fair share.”