Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Transit Funding

Fitch Downgrades MTA Debt — Interest Payments May Eat More of Your Fare

By Noah Kazis | Sep 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

Yesterday, we reported on the MTA’s ever-mounting debt load. By 2014, a new analysis from the Regional Plan Association found, debt service could be taking up a full 23 percent of the agency’s operating budget. Already, that debt is starting to catch up with transit riders. As first reported by Transportation Nation’s Andrea Bernstein, Fitch, […]

Where Does Your Fare Go? Increasingly, To Pay Off MTA Debt

By Noah Kazis | Sep 7, 2011 | 15 Comments

In 2003, labor costs dominated the MTA’s budget sheets. Just under 73 percent of the transit agency’s operating budget, which pays for day-to-day spending but not system expansions or major repairs, went to workers, according to a new analysis by the Regional Plan Association and the Empire State Transportation Alliance. By 2014, however, labor’s share […]

Recession Forcing Cutbacks at Nearly 80 Percent of U.S. Transit Agencies

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 17, 2011 | No Comments

How bad have the past two years been for transit agencies in the United States? In a word: bad. In two words: very bad. In survey results released today [PDF], the American Public Transportation Association reports that 51 percent of transit agencies have either raised fares or reduced service since last year. Meanwhile, 79 percent […]

Broad Coalition Urges Cuomo to Enact Transit Lockbox

By Noah Kazis and Ben Fried | Aug 15, 2011 | 6 Comments

If not for Albany’s theft of $260 million in dedicated transit tax revenues over the past two years, the sweeping service cuts enacted by the MTA in 2010 might have been avoided. Transit riders can’t afford a repeat. With the MTA on track to take on even more debt, squeezing its operating budget for years […]

Q-Poll: NYC Residents Want More Funds For MTA By Nearly 2-1 Margin

By Noah Kazis | Aug 12, 2011 | 5 Comments

The idea of increasing state funding for the MTA is popular in New York City, according to a new Quinnipiac poll released yesterday. Looking at the MTA service region — NYC plus its suburbs — more people want to see additional funding going to transit. Statewide, support for increased MTA funding is slightly lower than […]

Cutting “Waste and Inefficiency” Won’t Eliminate the MTA’s Budget Problems

By Noah Kazis | Aug 10, 2011 | 10 Comments

Last week, the city’s Independent Budget Office released a report on the MTA’s revenue structure [PDF] which has been getting a bit of play. At Second Avenue Sagas, Ben Kabak focused on the report’s main thesis: that the volatility of dedicated taxes and fees threatens the financial stability of the transit agency. Steven Higashide of […]

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