Albany Reaches MTA Deal

It's pretty much a done deal, with an official announcement from the three men in a room expected shortly. What's the plan? The sordid details are still emerging, but Politicker's Jimmy Vielkind has some numbers:

• .34 percent payroll tax in MTA service region (non-graduated): $1.53 billion annually
• $.50 cab fare surcharge: $95 million (None of this is likely to pay for upstate roads and bridges, I'm told.)
• Assorted fees on vehicle registrations and rentals: $175.5 million
• 10 percent fare hike: $100 million more than the 8 percent hike in prior funding proposals
• Total: $1.9 billion
• Total from commuters who drive across East River bridges: $0.

This is basically the Senate Democrats' proposal, with some knob twisting. Many aspects remain murky, like how much will go toward the MTA capital plan, but it seems fairly certain that Albany will kick the lion's share of those funding needs down the road. The Times is also reporting that the deal includes scheduled 7.5 percent hikes for transit fares and existing MTA tolls in 2011 and 2013.

Discuss.