Louie Bee
October 6, 2012
When it comes to transparency from government licensed non governmental agencies New York City has to rely on a corrupt money wasting agency called the Metropolitan Transportation Agency (MTA). They are responsible for getting at least 7 million New Yorkers to and from work, paying $2.25 a ride! That is approximately $255,500,000 a year! And that is not even counting the revenue they get from the bridges and tunnels which is $900 million a year.
In fact businesses in New York City have to pay a tax that goes directly to the MTA called the Metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax. You already know that cost gets passed on to the consumer. So basically New Yorkers pay for the MTA twice through fares or tolls and taxes.
I have interviewed truckers on my podcast and it adds to the cost of transporting food into New York a lot of truckers won’t even come to New York cause it cuts into their profits and living.
In an article in AM New York October 2, 2012, it was reported that the MTA is planning more fare hikes to cover the debt gap. To put this is perspective when I was born the fare was 75 cents per ride to take subways and busses in New York City. Now the fare is 2.25 per ride. So the price to take a subway or a bus in New York City went up $1.50 in 29 years. So it went up 20 cents a year. That is a 7.5% hike the current rate of inflation at the time of this article is 1.7%.
“The state comptroller's annual financial outlook report on the MTA, released Tuesday, shows that although the MTA's budget has been looking better over the past two years, the financially plagued agency still faces big hurdles, including the slow economic recovery, union negotiations and uncertainty surrounding its payroll mobility tax, which a state judge ruled unconstitutional in August. That ruling is under appeal.While acknowledging those challenges, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the MTA's fare and toll hikes are a "burden" on working New Yorkers, and should be a "last resort."His office reported that by 2015, fares and tolls will have climbed by 35% since 2007, while inflation has gone up by about 15%. The MTA is planning 7.5% fare hikes next March, and others in 2015 and 2017.But DiNapoli said he doesn't expect the MTA to reverse their plans."Given how fragile the finances are . . . I don't think anybody's anticipating any immediate rollback on what they've already built into their plan with regard to the toll and fare hikes," he told amNewYork last night.”
This is not the first time the MTA has cried poverty back in April 2003 the New York State Comptroller and New York City Controller issued separate reports showing that the MTA kept two sets of books and hid $500 million over several years in order to justify the 50-cent city bus and subway fare increase. The reports were based on MTA financial records that the officials obtained through legal subpoenas after repeated refusals by the MTA to provide complete records. State Comptroller Alan Hevesi said that the MTA "stonewalls, hides information, hides money, misleads the public" and has a "culture of dec eit…and is in tremendous need of reform."
Doesn’t that sound like the Federal Reserve?
What was funny that MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow, a Republican and close friend of the Governor Pataki, blasted Hevesi and said that his report is a "Political document filled with lies, half-truths and innuendos." However, though Hevesi and City Controller William Thompson are both ambitious Democratic career politicians, they also have reputations for being cautious, sober-minded and low-key.
The MTA blames the unions and having to pay for overtime. You know the company I work for keeps overtime down by using floaters. People who are on call when needed so they pay a regular normal salary. In 2010 MTA Chairman Jay Walder announced that he had found $60 million in annual savings by instituting tighter overtime controls, and $40 million in savings by renegotiating contracts with vendors.
Also I believe that the MTA should be fully privatized and power taken away from the state.
Check out how the MTA works:
· The Governor recommends six board members, including the Board Chair,
· New York City's Mayor recommends another four members,
· The county executives of Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester Counties recommend one board member each,
· And the county executives of Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Dutchess Counties recommend one board member each (those four board members cast one collective vote).
Again sounds a lot like the federal reserve huh?
The MTA is just as corrupt as the Federal Reserve and again government intervention in anything make it more expensive less efficient and wasteful. Unfortunately it is still cheaper than driving fuck it there is always biking to work.
Helpful links:
http://www.tstc.org/101/mta.php
