Gasoline prices are nearing the $2 mark and crude has gone down to under $50 a barrel, Â but the cost to commuters in increased tolls and parking fees have not made the burden lighter for those who travel to work by car. Judging by New York”™s own multibillion-dollar deficit, 2009 is going to become an even more expensive year for travelers, whether for work or pleasure.
Commuters who choose public transportation will be feeling the pinch of the sputtering economy, as buses and trains ”“ from municipal bus rapid transit service to state agencies such as the MTA ”“ have raised or plan to increase fares to cover operating costs.
Elliot Sander, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority”™s CEO and executive director, advised the public its deficit has surpassed the $1 billion mark. Â The transportation agency has to have a balanced budget in place for Gov. David Paterson by Jan. 1.
In mid-November, Howard Permut, new president of Metro-North Railroad, sent a message to his corporate leadership team, telling them what most of us already know: “We are in extraordinarily difficult financial times … it is no secret the revenues that fund the MTA are insufficient.”
Its base budget for 2009 and 2010, finalized in July, anticipated a 1.5 percent reduction in expenses. But reductions alone will not close the widening gap in funding required for the region”™s comprehensive transportation network. In the absence of additional revenue, Permut instructed each of the MTA”™s agencies to create a contingency plan for further expense reductions.
While Metro-North was given a reduction target of $36.6 million, only $1.6 million could be funded through new revenue. The remaining $35 million will be achieved by budget reductions. Permut told corporate heads that while they were to seek ways to reduce funding, none of the reductions were to impact customer or employee safety and any impacts to both customers and existing employees be minimized. Whether that is possible remains to be seen. Most transportation analysts ”“ as well as straphangers ”“ are preparing to see higher prices and face the prospect of fewer trains.
The MTA spent two months reviewing its expenses for 2008 through 2010. The new president urged the agencies”™ heads to create a “judicious base budget and develop a set of possible additional actions to achieve budget balance.”
Permut said, “The reductions are still proposals and not yet set in stone.”
Metro-North Railroad ”“ comprised of the Hudson, Harlem, New Haven, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines, carries 125,000 passengers to work each day, according to MTA spokesman Dan Brucker. “Six hundred and fifty trains on 400 route miles carry an estimated 90 percent of the commuting public.”Â
But like all agencies, the nation”™s second-largest commuter rail system is suffering from loss of revenue and continued costs that are widening its deficit gap.
Commuters are resigned to fare increases and perhaps a cut in some service when all is said and done. Economists, accountants, bankers and developers in the private sector ”“and those who sit in public office ”“ seem to concur that 2009 is going to be even tougher than 2008 has been.
