MTA

There will be a rally today from 5:30 to 7:30 at Union Square (Broadway and 14th St. in Manhattan) in protest of planned MTA fare hikes and service cuts. Event organizers include Transportation Alternatives, the Straphangers Campaign, the Working Families Party, Keep New York Moving and the Facebook group "1,000,000 People Against the NYC MTA Fare Hike."

Wondering how the revised version of the Ravitch plan compares to what's come before? Here's a look at the tweaks proposed yesterday by the Ravitch Commission:

Dollar Van Demos, the unlikely union of transportation needs and musical dreams that has entranced New York bloggers, is giving private transit operators in Brooklyn and Queens some of the best press they've ever received. But that isn't the only reason it's worth taking a fresh look at dollar vans. If the state legislature can't avert the MTA's doomsday scenario, the vans may soon see a surge in ridership -- perhaps big enough to launch a few recording careers.

While his colleague from Brooklyn Bill de Blasio has given his blessing to tolls on East River bridges, Queens City Council Member John Liu -- who, as of this writing, is running for city comptroller -- seems to have officially joined the chorus of electeds who insist that the MTA's dire financial straits constitute a crisis of the agency's own making.

Late last week, Brooklyn City Council member and current candidate for public advocate Bill de Blasio released this statement on MTA funding:

It was a little surprising to see Upper Manhattan Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat, one of the few state electeds to support congestion pricing without reservation, come out so strongly against the Ravitch MTA rescue plan, and the tolling of East and Harlem River bridges in particular. Now we have this recent post from an e-mail list for Inwood parents:

A Monday editorial from Crain's questioned the wisdom of sacrificing MTA head Lee Sander as part of any transit rescue plan, as rumors swirl that Governor David Paterson wants Marc Shaw to return to the agency's top spot.

It seems like only yesterday that the three men emerged from their room with vague talk of an emerging scheme to spare transit riders -- temporarily, at least -- the pain of fare hikes and service cuts required, minus help from Albany, to keep the MTA afloat. But as the Times reports, a new development would catch the triumvirate flat-footed.

With events in Albany still unfolding, it remains to be seen whether this Bill Bramhall 'toon -- slide four of the Daily News illustrator's gallery -- will become reality.