Do you notice how few politicians have the cajones to raise taxes on people who make half a million or more a year (keep in mind, that means half a million dollars a year INCOME, not net worth), but they will all, with a great show of reluctance, let people who depend on NYC's subways and buses get screwed over every single time?

Our city DEPENDS on good transit more than it depends on anything except maybe effective garbage collection. Yet fare hikes and service cuts are the politically easy thing to do if times get tough. Even though the MTA has proven itself completely unreliable right down to fraudulently keeping two sets of books, they are allowed to continue to function without adequate oversight or punishment for their shady practices.  read more »

WFP's most excellent Dan Levitan emails over a release announcing a joint effort by the Working Families Party and Straphangers to fight the proposed fare hike for the subway. There's even a web site, HaltTheHike.org.

Working Families Party, Straphangers Campaign Launch Online Effort to Win Funding for Mass Transit, Prevent Fare Hikes

New York – Fighting to “keep mass transit affordable for working people,” the Straphangers Campaign and the Working Families Party announced today the re-launch of www.haltthehike.org, an online campaign to prevent MTA fare hikes by winning adequate public aid for mass transit from the city and state.

Over 7,000 New Yorkers have already used the website to send Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg a clear message: “With the economy down and the cost of living up, New Yorkers can’t afford a fare hike two years in a row. To keep public transportation affordable and reliable we need more city and state aid for mass transit.”

“Over the last 30 years, public transportation in New York has seen an incredible revival,” said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign. “With gas prices up and MTA ridership booming, now is not the time for city and the state to abandon transit riders and the MTA. Public transportation can meet the needs of a growing city, but not without adequate public investment.”

“Public transportation is the lifeblood of our city,” said Working Families Party Executive Director Dan Cantor. “With the cost of living skyrocketing in New York, working people can’t afford fare hikes two years in a row. But simple math says without proper aid from the state and city, transit riders will end up picking up the tab.”

The two groups plan to continue the campaign to win funding for public transportation and prevent MTA fare hikes throughout the fall and into next year’s legislative session in Albany.

“The fight to keep the subway affordable is never ending, but it’s a fight we need to win,” added Dan Cantor.

Transit riders already pay more than their fair share of keeping the MTA running. In 2006, riders paid 55% of the costs of running the subways and buses. Metro-North riders paid 58% and LIRR riders paid 47%.

Riders elsewhere pay much less, funding an average 37% of the costs for the biggest 50 transit systems nationwide. Riders in Philadelphia, Boston, and Los Angeles pay 37%, 29%, and 23% respectively of the costs for their transit systems.

They have a real point: New Yorkers pay more for our mass transit than anyone else in the country. A fare hike falls disproportionately on lower- and middle-class riders who have no alternate means of getting from A to B. Sure, the economy is in the toilet, the budget not doing all that well, but there are better ways to finance the essential infrastructure of the agglomeration than by going, as usual, to the people most dependent on using it.