MTA

Former MTA chief Richard Ravitch stood with Governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg this morning to discuss details of his commission's plan to keep the cash-starved MTA afloat both in the short-term and in years to come. Streetsblog's Ben Fried attended the news conference and will have more later. For now, here are a few highlights:

The much-anticipated report from the Ravitch Commission is scheduled to be released within the hour. The report is expected to include recommendations for an eight percent increase in transit fares along with tolls on East River and, possibly, Harlem River bridges -- measures deemed necessary to avert the MTA "doomsday" scenario of a 23 percent fare hike and massive service cuts. And yet, in this morning's media coverage, we couldn't find one quote from a politician other than Governor David Paterson who was willing to keep an open mind on the idea of new bridge tolls.

Add Micah Kellner's name to the MTA doomsday scorecard. Yesterday, the Upper East Side Assembly member came out in favor of increasing license and registration fees for New York drivers as a transit revenue booster.

Last week we e-mailed a short list of questions about the MTA financial crisis to Assembly Member Richard Brodsky. Here are his responses, received yesterday, shortly after we posted our "doomsday" scorecard.

Rhetorically speaking, it's often easier to be against something than to stand in support of it. This could be why, with one or two possible exceptions, the political players in the MTA "doomsday" drama have so far gained the most media attention by, say, shouting down bridge tolls (Yay!) or getting a shoe shine (Boo!). Some prominent electeds, despite the grave importance of the issue at hand, have to this point largely stayed out of it -- even those who, when they had congestion pricing to kick around, could scarcely be found without a microphone or camera in spittling distance.

While we appear to be hurtling toward a future of less reliable transit service, at least those of us with cell phones will be able to plan accordingly:

On Sunday, the editors of Crain's proposed that a reinstatement of the commuter tax, as called for by several local pols -- including Sheldon Silver, who helped kill it in 1999 -- should be considered in concert with, and not instead of, tolls on East River bridges. The editorial is behind the pay wall, so here is an excerpt:

City comptroller and mayoral candidate William Thompson is urging the Ravitch Commission today to push for a revival of the commuter tax to help stave off an MTA "doomsday scenario," expected to unfold next spring unless the agency gets help.