 The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will see a 9.2 percent increase, or approximately $358 million, in state funding support in the $135 billion budget approved Thursday night by the Assembly. Gov. Andrew Cuomo in an announcement said the increased state aid for MTA operations could reduce  pressure to impose more toll and fare hikes.  Â
The MTA in the 2012-2013 fiscal year that ends March 31 received $3.8 billion in state operating support for its transit and commuter rail systems.
Westchester County”™s Bee line Bus system will receive approximately $3.32 million in additional operating aid and capital funding from the state. The increase to the county is part of a $21 million increase to public transportation systems statewide, not including the MTA.  Â
Cuomo said the budget includes more than $454 million to support operations of upstate and downstate suburban transportation networks.
 State legislators in the new budget also reauthorized $770 million in state capital funding for the MTA that was committed in the agency”™s 2010-2014 capital program. The budget also includes about $570 million for the continued spend-out of the MTA”™s 2005-2009 capital program from reappropriations of the Rebuild and Renew New York Bond Act of 2005.    Â
“New York state has always been a national leader in investing in our public transportation infrastructure, and this budget includes hundreds of millions of dollars in new spending to rebuild transit systems across the state,” Cuomo said. “This funding will help protect toll payers, straphangers, and all New Yorkers that depend on public transportation, while at the same time supporting job-creating projects and new investments in communities across New York state.” Â
