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NY1

Updated 12:35 PM
MTA Board Passes Transit Service Cuts

By: NY1 News

Despite vocal public opposition, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board approved a series of proposed service cuts in a Midtown meeting, which will end the W and V subway lines and more than 20 bus lines.

By the 11-2 vote, the MTA Board passed what they deemed to be necessary cuts to help the agency reduce a budget deficit of nearly $800 million and achieve a balanced budget by the new fiscal year in summer, as required by law.

"Nobody likes this vote. It's obviously a very painful vote, and I don't think there's anyone sitting around this table that would take it likely. It's a vote that affects a lot of people's lives," said MTA Vice Chairman Andrew Saul. "But we must also be realistic here. There will be no outside help from the city, the state and from the counties, and therefore we must squeeze every nickel that we can out of our own resources."

Other board members, including Norman Seabrook and Allen Cappelli, said the MTA has not yet explored all options to cut spending.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told the MTA Board that a petition signed by 40,000 people that she presented two weeks ago represented a "drop in the bucket" of the number of city straphangers who are opposed to the proposed cuts.

To alleviate some of the effects of the loss of the W line, the Q train would be extended to Astoria, Queens.

The M train will be merged with the V line, but M service in southern Brooklyn and lower Manhattan will be eliminated.

Service would also be reduced on several other lines as a cost saver.

Bus riders in all five boroughs will be affected, with more than 20 lines set for complete elimination and many others facing shortened routes. Some lines are being extended to make up the difference.

The rebate for Queens residents for the Cross Bay Bridge has also been eliminated.

Of the 34 members of the public who spoke at the meeting, most expressed objections to MTA staff layoffs, service cuts and fare increases.

Republican Brooklyn-Queens State Senator Martin Golden noted how fare jumpers tax the MTA's resources and how seniors in his district would be affected by bus service cuts.

Another speaker, a former MTA station agent who was laid off two years ago said she could not understand why the agency did not use capital funds to maintain staff.

"I see you all have it made. You cannot relate to me," she said.

Yet another MTA staff member asked all current and former station agents attending the meeting to raise their hands if they had helped save a life, to show the board the importance of staffed subway stations.

Riders got some good news last week when the MTA announced service cuts were being scaled back, but the decision will cost the agency $8 million in savings.

MTA officials said the ideas to scale back the cuts came from public hearings held in the five boroughs.

A controversial proposal to cut student MetroCards will be dealt with in June, to allow the city and state more time to find funding.




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