Today’s Headlines

Back when it might have made a difference, I was in favor of transit fares that kept up with inflation and paying taxes to support the transit system.

But now it’s too late. No fare increases. No tax increases on wages. And no tax increases on property.

Whether we pay more or not, younger generations aren’t going to get public services and benefits. The greedy bastards have taken it all, not just today but forever in the future.

The less I think about David Gantt the better I feel

Phil, it makes sense that tolled roads are going to see less of an effect from higher gas prices as they already have at least one significant cost. Even then, I suspect a count would reveal that traffic volumes are down on the NJ turnpike as in the country as a whole. (I’m surprised that our bridge toll traffic has decreased, but then gas is the one cost of driving that can’t be avoided through political connections.) It may not be perceptible, and there will always be crazy drivers, but there is no surer way to save some part of 40,000 lives yearly in this country than to reduce the driving roulette by any amount.

Compared to the increase in gas prices that has rasied the costs to individual drivers by more than double, the increase in transit costs seems minor. The real problem is that the MTA has no inflation adjustment in its fees. Most government fees increase with inflation. Look at sales tax, property tax, income tax, corporate tax. As people earn more dollars, the amount collected by government increases, even if there is no “tax increase.”
One obvious problem with congestion pricing as a funding mechanism, is over time, the rates will need to be raised to keep up with inflation. There is no regular increase that counteracts the ever weakening dollar.
Since it’s all electronic, and therefore making change doesn’t matter, perhaps it would be prudent to have any congestion charge indexed to inflation.

I agree — too much space. But I think it’s time to extend the sidewalk and switch parking spaces on side streets from motor vehicles to bikes.

compensation for mta employees is ridiculously too high, well more than simply “covering the cost of living in New York City” . . expecially when factoring in the overly generous retirement package & healthcare benefits, and factoring in the poor, poor quality of work and customer service.

the twu is bleeding the mta dry, and its a goddam shame

Ron does manage to throw some fuel on the fire now doesn’t he? Could he name just one “relatively low-skill” individual, or even job title, that makes that rate. I’m guessing he thinks motormen (engineers on the railroads) who make around $30 in hourly wage, are low skill. I’m guess he thinks electricians who make around $28 depending on the property are pretty low skill too. He is certainly welcome to apply for any of these positions.

As Larry often points out though, these workers do come with a nice retirement package. Thats what keeps them in their “relatively low-skilled” positions when electricians on the outside make around $35/hr. They work on particular pieces of equipment and transit properties have learned over the years that good pensions keeps turnover and training costs down and provides a pool of managers who know how to actually run the trains. Of course since Ron knows these are such “low-skill” titles he probably knows that you don’t really have to do much training for engineers and/or third rail electricians.

There are low skill positions at the MTA, like station and car cleaners, who make much less and need much less training, the MTA has been cutting their jobs in a sort of title triage that the Daily News and Ron must enjoy. Maybe they should have started to cut the workforce at the level of engineer and motormen, they could have saved more money and the stations and trains are much easier to clean when the trains are laid up in the yards. Of course they aren’t actually carrying any passengers then either.

These are pretty good jobs though, no one denies that, maybe Ron would like one. In that case he should take the Civil Service Test and wait to get called, take another test, piss in a bottle, and join the gravy train. I suggest picking up a copy of “The Chief”. Where the MTA is really having trouble in the labor market is among supervisors, middle managers and mangers, the people the Daily News snears at as “suits”. In that labor market the MTA has to compete with the many consultants who need similar skills and pay substantially more than the MTA.

Ron is the logical result of a media that has demonized the MTA since its creation with the laudable goal of selling newspapers. The MTA has to give the public the bad news now and then, that fares have to go up. When they do that, the chorus is relentless from the likes of Ron and Pete Donahue. Those people make too much, cut the waste, ad infinitum. OK. So no surprise next time it happens.

I think it is good service at a fair price and want the system expanded. And I want good people working there. Safety is critical, I want professionals at the wheel. Maybe Ron is happy with part timers, being paid minimum wage, who will leave for a better thing after a couple years. We all have different wants.

The concept of the MTA, created by Rocky when the passenger rails and NYC Transit were bankrupt, may have run its course, an independent agency that tries to make the best decisions regarding fare and toll increases, wages and benefits. Maybe it is time to turn the authority back to the politicians and the Daily News. Fares will never go up again, the system will disintegrate, then the fare payers will throw out the politicians and the cycle will start over again. Can’t wait.