Massive Subway Fare Hikes Loom Even With Service Cuts

NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority would have to impose massive fare hikes to plug a budget deficit without new funding even if subway and bus service were cut, the agency's finance chief said Thursday.

The MTA is scheduled to increase fares and tolls by 4 percent in 2019 and 2021 under a roughly decade-old commitment. But the agency still faces a nearly $1 billion deficit in 2022 if those hikes go through — a number that could balloon to $1.6 billion if they don't, Chief Financial Officer Robert Foran said.

Fares and tolls would have to increase 15 percent in addition to the planned hikes without cuts to New York City Transit service — and an extra 12 percent increase would still be required even if service is reduced, Foran said.

"The bottom line here is we do need additional recurring revenues if we’re going to address the deficit," he said.

The MTA Board voted Thursday to schedule public hearings on two proposals to implement the planned fare hikes. The plans would be up for board approval in January, Foran said.

One option would keep the subway and bus fare at $2.75 and eliminate the bonus that comes with buying two fares. The other would raise the base fare to $3 and provide a 10 percent bonus with a $6 purchase.

The agency's financial picture has grown bleaker as its expected income from fares, tolls and taxes has grown slimmer.

The amount of revenue expected from fares and tolls from 2018 to 2022 is now over $1 billion less than what it was 18 months ago, Foran said, while expected revenue from dedicated taxes is $600 million less.

New York City Transit, the sub-agency that runs the city's beleaguered subways and buses, has proposed service cutbacks that are expected to save $41 million starting in 2020, according to Foran's presentation.

The "adjustments" will reduce service on bus and subway routes that are currently "underutilized," leading to longer headways, Foran said. Most of the savings — $31 million — would come from reductions in bus service, according to. the presentation.

The MTA asked NYC Transit to explore even deeper cuts to examine how they would impact the budget deficit. It turned out they would barely make a dent, Foran said — moderate cuts would save $36 million a year, significant cuts would save an extra $51 million a year and severe cuts would save an additional $80 million a year.

NYC Transit President Andy Byford noted that those scenarios are hypothetical and said the agency doesn't want to move forward with any of them.

"We do not want to go down this road. We absolutely do not," Byford said. "It’s anathema to me."

The difficulties come amid continued debate over how to fund Byford's $40 billion "Fast Forward" plan to revitalize and modernize the city's transit system.

Transit advocates have launched a petition calling on Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who controls the MTA, to halt the upcoming fare hike and put together a funding plan that includes congestion pricing, a plan to fund public transit by tolling vehicles entering central and lower Manhattan.

But Foran said the MTA would lose about $325 million in revenue even if someone threw in enough cash to put off the hike until 2020.

"We’re just going to make the hole that much bigger 'cause this is revenue that we’ve now lost and will never be able to recoup," he said.

(Lead image: A subway rider swipes a MetroCard in March 2009. Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)