New Bill Would Hold MTA Accountable For Cuts

Assemblyman Jim Brennan, D-Brooklyn, wants the MTA to be held accountable for their promised savings in cutting routes on subways, buses and commuter rail.

Brennan is introducing legislature that would require the MTA to present a report to the Legislature and the Governor by December 31, 2012 on the cost of restoring service cuts since 2008.

The bill would require the MTA to report on the service impacts of the cutbacks for each route and the number of customers affected across all systems, including bus, rail, and subways. The report would include information on how much money was actually saved versus the projected savings for each route.

“As we prepare for the next State budget, the Governor and the Legislature need to know the cost of restoring some or all of these service cuts,” said Brennan. 

The MTA’s report must present two alternatives for service restoration plans. The first would provide a cost for full restoration of all cutbacks. The second would require detailing a plan that would “substantially mitigate” the negative impacts of service cuts and eliminations for an “equitable restoration” of services “across all impacted neighborhoods and regions.”

"In June 2010, the MTA cut service severely, killing 36 bus routes, 570 bus stops, all or parts of three subway lines, while also increasing crowding and wait times in the subways on off hours and weekends," said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, a transit riders' group.

John Samuelsen, President of the Transport Workers Union, said, “The MTA's service cuts are done without any real input from the folks who are adversely affected by those decisions. This bill will create a layer of transparency and accountability, which is currently absent. New York's working families deserve to know whether their tax dollars are being spent wisely, and whether the service cuts which the MTA enacts are necessary.”