OFFICIAL TESTIMONY
MTA Board Meeting
January 24, 2019
TO: Acting Chairman Ferrer & the MTA Board Members:
Good morning everyone, I am Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, Chair of the New York City Council's Transportation Committee. Thank you to the MTA Board for allowing me to submit my official statement for the record.
I understand the dire necessity to generate revenue so that the NYC Transit System can continue operating our subway and bus services; however, increasing the fees for a MetroCard will only produce a financial hardship for working class New Yorkers that rely on mass transit to commute to work, school and other trips every day. I do not believe that this is the intention of the fare hikes, but ultimately it will lead to a negative impact for riders. The current proposals of increasing the price of a MetroCard from $2.75 to $3.00, or keeping the base fare the same and eliminating the bonus, and raising the price of the monthly unlimited MetroCard will only hinder riders from riding the subway and/or buses and instead become more dependent on for-hire vehicles to travel.
Today, I urge the MTA Board to scrap these plans, not just as a City Council Member and Chair of the Transportation Committee, but also as a concerned citizen fed up with the consistent increases of these regressive fees.
Right now our City infrastructure is steadily increasing as our ridership reaches record highs. Daily subway ridership serves nearly six million residents that depend on reliable and efficient mass transit.
Although I understand the need to attain new funds to close the MTA's budget deficit, I must challenge the Board's first instinct of increasing fares to garner those funds. The two options that have been proposed by the Board, one increasing base fares and another
eliminating the popular bonus system, will not resolve existing funding issues. I call upon the MTA Board to explore alternative, more creative methods to fund the gap in the Operating Budget like establishing Public-Private Partnerships, a comprehensive congestion pricing plan, and a Millionaire's tax. By generating other types of revenue, the MTA would incentivize the use of our transit system potentially reducing carbon emissions further in addition to garnering revenue for the transportation system.
We must invest in our transportation to bring it up to the world-class status required of us. However, I refuse to support any methods that would put the burden of closing the fiscal gap on the backs of the working class. The burden of financing our once excellent subway system cannot fall on straphangers and riders alone. Priorities at the MTA must be changed; fare increases can no longer be the first instinct. I look forward to working with the MTA to better serve all New Yorkers.
