The financial condition of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is improving, but at the cost of projected fare and toll hikes that would be three times the rate of inflation, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in an Oct. 3 report.
In order to cover projected budget gaps of $487 million in 2013, $759 million in 2014, $1.1 billion in 2015 and $1.4 billion in 2016, the MTA projects it will need to increase fares and tolls by 7 percent in 2013 and by another 7 percent in 2015.
If approved, that would represent a 35 percent increase in fares and tolls from 2007 to 2015, DiNapoli said.
Under the MTA’s financial plan, released in July, fare and toll increases would account for 82 percent of the resources identified by the MTA to close the projected budget deficits, with new management actions accounting for the remaining 18 percent, according to DiNapoli’s report.
“Ridership is rising and the MTA’s finances are stabilizing, but there are areas of concern,” DiNapoli said in a press release. “The pace of the economic recovery, litigation challenging the constitutionality of the Payroll Mobility Tax, collective bargaining and funding for the next capital program could all affect the budget. Fare and toll hikes continue to outpace inflation, placing a burden on working men and women across the metropolitan region.”
