Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to testify. I am Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, and I represent the Upper West Side and parts of the Hell’s Kitchen/Clinton neighborhoods in Manhattan. I am appalled at the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) proposal to drastically cut bus and subway services and continue to shift the ever-increasing financial burden of paying for the transit system to its riders. The MTA’s proposals would create serious hardship for those who rely upon mass transit to travel around the city, and I will address the particular issues that affect my district. However, the MTA must in the future develop a more responsible plan for weathering tough economic times that is not so punitive to its riders.

Transit riders are being asked to pay more to get less, and that is wrong. The proposal to raise the base fare to $2.50, to raise the monthly Metrocard by 25%, and to dramatically raise fares for Access-A-Ride and Express Bus Service is simply unacceptable. New sources of revenue for the MTA must be identified, including increased funding from the City, State and Federal governments, as well as new streams of revenue as proposed by the Ravitch Commission. At a time when the mantra is, “use public transportation and leave your car at home,” it makes no sense to take actions that drive people away from our buses and subways.

The MTA’s proposed cuts to bus service on Manhattan’s West Side present nothing less than an unmitigated transit disaster for my constituents and others who use public transportation in my district. Bus service is crucial for elderly residents and the disabled who cannot use the subways because of their steep stairs and lack of easy access, and taxis are beyond the means of many. The slated elimination of the M10 bus route would deprive West Siders of a vital means of reaching the major subway and train arteries of Penn Station and Times Square. Eliminating this route would severely burden those who commute via the M10. The proposed elimination of overnight service on the M104 line is a complete nonstarter. It would remove a heavily used means of traveling north and south on the West Side. The M104 bus is the surface transit equivalent of the IRT line, and cutting it off overnight would be foolhardy. Overnight service is a necessity, not a luxury, and my constituents on the West Side exemplify New York as the city that never sleeps. In addition, cutting the M104’s route at 42nd Street on the West Side will prevent riders from using the bus to reach the East Side where it currently stops near the United Nations. Eliminating weekend service on the M50, M66, and M79 lines will severely limit access to Manhattan’s East Side. And limiting the Saturday and Sunday schedules for the M20 bus will make it harder for people to reach Lincoln Center and the theater district, which are recognized economic engines, at a time when they are already suffering from declines in attendance.

The MTA’s proposed reductions to subway service hurt straphangers in my district. Eliminating the “W” train’s route below Canal Street will essentially slice train service in half for my constituents who use its Broadway lines below Canal Street. Removing station agents from the heavily used uptown 79th and 86th Street stations will require parents with strollers and disabled riders in wheelchairs to use notoriously unreliable intercoms to contact agents at the downtown stops to simply catch a train. The absence of MTA personnel will also compromise the safety of these stations by inviting vandalism and ironically, fare evasion.

In addition to cuts in subway and bus service, it is simply unconscionable that the MTA is proposing to charge elderly and disabled riders more than double the current fare of $2 for Access-a-Ride service. Under the MTA’s plan, Access-a-Ride users could pay as much as $5 per ride. Many elderly residents living on fixed incomes rely heavily on this vital service to buy groceries, keep appointments with doctors, or visit friends and family. They simply cannot afford this increase and we cannot sever their lifelines.

It is wrongheaded to target the most vulnerable transit users in order for the MTA to balance its books – and there is little evidence to show that hiking Access-a-Ride fares would help close the MTA’s budget gap. According to the Independent Budget Office, hiking the Access-a-Ride fare to $3 while maintaining existing ridership would generate only $15 million in additional revenue, which represents less than two-tenths of one percent of the MTA budget.

As a New York State legislator, I will fight to increase state funding for the MTA. The Ravitch Commission Report has identified new revenue streams, and I expect that many of its proposals will meet with success in Albany. I also look forward to our new administration in Washington delivering $4 billion in capital funding. However, New Yorkers deserve better from the MTA. The agency must be more transparent in terms of its finances and accountable to the public in how its business is conducted. If any good can emerge from this economic crisis, it is the opportunity for the MTA to adopt better operating practices and to search for dynamic solutions to maintaining bus and subway service rather than pursuing regressive ideas that slash service and shift the financial burden to subway and bus riders. These service cuts are avoidable, and there’s nothing fair about these increases.