MTA

Earlier this week State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli came out with his latest report on the MTA's troubled finances [PDF], and if you take a look at the numbers, the big takeaway is pretty stark. Without funding for the $9.9 billion hole in the agency's capital program, MTA debt will soar even higher. If legislators don't secure more revenue for maintaining and expanding the transit system, there are basically two options: either the MTA can reduce its capital spending or straphangers can pay the price through higher fares and worse service.

Select Bus Service remains on track to debut on October 10, confirmed NYC DOT and the MTA at a meeting of the project's Community Advisory Committee last night. Bus service improvements along the corridor are as crucial as ever and will be bolstered by camera enforcement, which DOT announced would be in effect starting in November. The changes that take effect in 25 days, however, won't be the full complete streets package originally promised. Above 34th Street, bike lanes and pedestrian refuge islands were unceremoniously stripped from the plan some time this spring.

The votes have been counted in the 2010 primaries, humbling three of the state legislators who killed major transit funding initiatives the past few years.

Residents of Northern Manhattan and the west Bronx have been waiting more than three years for the re-opening of the bike-ped path on the lower deck of the Henry Hudson Bridge. When the moment finally came earlier this summer, however, cyclists got a nasty surprise: MTA Bridges and Tunnels still won't allow biking on the bridge.

With the cuts to New York City Transit taking effect this weekend, today's the last day of service for many riders. If you take the V or W train, or the M6, M18, M27, M30, B23, B37, B39, B51, B71, B75, B77, Q74, Q75, Q79, Q89, Bx14, Bx25, Barretto Park Pool Shuttle, S60 or S67 buses, you'll be hit the hardest; those lines are scheduled for elimination. On dozens more routes, riders will be waiting longer for their ride or scrambling to replace night and weekend service.

MTA service cuts are here. With reductions taking effect on Sunday, tomorrow marks the last day of operation for weekday-only services like the V and W trains, and many express buses. And even as transit supporters mourn current losses, more cuts loom on the horizon.

In an unbelievable display of chutzpah -- okay, not really -- Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman "Denny" Farrell issued a self-congratulatory press release last Friday taking credit for "saving" student MetroCards. Here's an excerpt:

How many ways can New York state raid the MTA piggy bank? Here's one to keep an eye on.

The $2 billion transit operating aid bill unveiled by Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd today could set the stage to stave off major MTA service cuts slated to take effect next month.