MTA Chairman Jay Walder last week said he was losing sleep over his options for plugging a $750 million budget hole. Planned service cuts, he said, are “tearing my heart out.”
But if Walder wants to save mass transit, and maybe the city along with it, he should do more than just cut: He should raise fares, too — and fast.
No, riders won’t like being forced to cough up yet again.
But that’s the point: Until we feel sufficient pain, we’re not likely to pressure MTA brass — and Albany — to rein in those outrageously expensive contract excesses, which keep transit workers comfy while the rest of us struggle through a bitter recession.
And if we’re not willing to demand contract reforms — for salaries, benefits, work rules — what right do we have to grouse about fare hikes?
Where do we think the cash will come from for last year’s fat wage spikes (11.3 percent over three years) and other perks?
The MTA’s hearings last week on those service cuts (which surely won’t be pretty) provoked a fierce outcry: Four protesters were arrested at a Brooklyn meeting Wednesday.
But, gee — where were these angry riders when a state arbitration panel handed out those handsome raises last year?
The service cuts aren’t just necessary, they’re useful. When riders can no longer tolerate miserable, ever-worsening commutes, maybe then they’ll demand serious labor reform.
Raising fares may make even more sense. New York needs a top-notch transit system — not just for today’s riders, but also to maintain its national and international reputation. The city can’t risk having lousy subway and bus service discourage potential future firms, residents and visitors from coming here. That’s not just a path to economic ruin, but maybe the beginning of the end of New York as we know it.
Rather than hurt service, equipment and, ultimately, the system’s very image, better to bite the bullet, raise the money now — and keep trains and buses running smoothly.
Tapping riders, by the way, sure beats some other reckless ideas floating around — like stealing money from MTA capital projects, borrowing to pay daily bills or hitting up taxpayers (and cushioning straphangers) yet again.
Besides, why not let riders pay their full bill, or at least more of it? Already, subway and bus passengers enjoy a subsidy of nearly 50 percent on the cost of every ride. (The actual average cost is $2.73, while the fare, after discounts and free transfers, averages $1.41.)
Those subsidies (from Albany, City Hall, Washington) shield riders from the effects of a poorly run system — one, for example, that gives transit workers unaffordably expensive pay packages.
And make no mistake: Transit workers are among the best-compensated blue-collar employees in New York’s entire public-sector workforce.
There are other good reasons to jack up fares, unpopular as it would be: When the MTA is more reliant on its customers for revenue, it can be less dependent on handouts from cynical politicians. The $750 million hole it now faces stems, in part, from Albany’s sudden, capricious theft of $143 million in MTA aid last year.
Yes, riders got socked with a 12.5 percent hike last year, and Walder says next year’s wallop may be even more than the 7.5 percent spike already planned. But fares have risen steeply in past crises: In 1975, the cost of a token shot up 43 percent; in 1981, another 25 percent. In 2003, amid the post-9/11 economic downturn, the price of a ride jumped 33 percent. NJ Transit is moving toward a 25 percent hike on tap right now, after having bumped them 9 percent just three years ago.
After discounts, a ride today costs less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than it did 25 years ago.
Bottom line: New Yorkers should step up to save mass transit. Mostly, we should be willing to foot the tab for any worker perks or pay hikes we won’t actively oppose. (Public support for the transit union during its crippling, illegal 2005 Christmas strike suggests New Yorkers may be reluctant to speak out against labor concessions, even now. Fine — so let them put their money where their mouths aren’t.)
If we really dislike fare hikes, and service cuts, we need to help Walder rein in costs, particularly for personnel. Straphangers, after all, are also voters — an essential political force. If it takes steep fare hikes to get us on board, much as we hate it, it may be well worth the extra quarter or two per ride in the long run.abrodsky@nypost.com