Governor Spitzer signed a bill last week that establishes an airline passenger bill of eights, to be enforced by a new Office of the Airline Consumer Advocate within the Consumer Protection Board. Besides creating this new office, the bill mandates that airlines prominently post consumer complaint hotlines at their airport desks and provide food, water, restrooms and fresh air to passengers stranded on the tarmac for over three hours. Complaints are given to the office of the Attorney General, and fines are possible for violations of these standards, up to $1,000 per passenger per violation. In short, airline passengers now can claim some basic standards of customer service by right.

So much, so good. Now, what about the MTA?

Reuters reports here that a fare increase could very well be held off until 2010, provided the City and state restore prior funding cuts to the tune of $728 million. That assessment is based on a report by City Comptroller Bill Thompson.

"Every day, we learn of yet another steep increase -- whether it's housing, fuel or even groceries -- that keeps New Yorkers from making ends meet," the Democratic Comptroller said.

New York State's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city's buses, subways and commuter lines, in July proposed boosting fares in early 2008 to raise $320 million. Otherwise, the biggest U.S. mass transit agency said it would need much steeper fare increases, as well as service cuts the following year, to close looming budget shortfalls.

What set of books are the proposed looming budget shortfalls based on? The public set, or the private set? MTA passengers, all eight million a day of us, don't have access to actual numbers that accurately describe the finances of that gargantuan agency.

Would it not be useful to have an MTA passengers bill of rights, with the first item thereof being a right to access actual and verified information about the agency, that would in turn allow the public and policymakers to determine, transparently, what the agency's funding needs actually are?

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