Mass transit officials on Wednesday approved a "doomsday" budget that would rely on fair hikes and service cuts, with a message to the state and federal governments: Help!
The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said more government aid is needed to help plug a $1.2 billion budget gap. Under the 2009 budget, a single bus or subway ride could rise from $2 to $2.50 and a monthly pass could go from $81 to around $100.
"The message is, very clearly, help!" MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger said. "We’ve done the best we can. ... Albany, Washington, come to our help."
Fares would also rise on the suburban Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad by an average of 23 percent.
The board expects to vote on the increases in March.
Board members approved the budget 13-1 after a raucous public hearing in which speaker after speaker denounced them for the proposed fare hikes and service cuts, which would lead to fewer, more crowded trains and eliminate some bus lines entirely.
Stephen Millies, 54, who identified himself as an Amtrak worker, threatened to throw a shoe at MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander.
"This shoe’s for you," he said before being escorted from the room and given a summons for disorderly conduct. He never got his shoe off.
Millies was referring to the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush on Sunday.
Board member Norman Seabrook, who cast the lone "no" vote on the budget, said the MTA was being forced into the role of bad guy.
"We’re the ones who have to pull the trigger on something that makes no sense," he said. "The Assembly, the Senate, the Council, the governor and the mayor need to step up to the plate."
Other board members said they were voting "yes" reluctantly because they are legally obligated to pass a balanced budget.
"As has been reported, I publicly called it draconian, very severe, very harsh and extremely painful," Sander said. "It is all of these things."
More than 8.5 million riders use the MTA’s subways, buses and suburban rail lines on an average weekday.
Transit fares have risen three times since 2003, most recently in March.
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