New York authorities must seriously crack down on fare-beating — and taxpayers should fork over billions more — to help fund the MTA’s newly proposed $68.4 billion, five-year capital plan, a new report released Friday recommends.
Gov. Kathy Hochul should also scrap her $3 billion “inflation rebate” check program to New York taxpayers proposed in her executive budget plan and instead dedicate the state revenue to bolster the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s staggering 2025-2029 capital construction program.
“These $300 and $500 checks spread $3 billion so thinly that they will not meaningfully make New York more affordable for any single family. Redirecting some or all of the $3 billion to the MTA would have a major impact,” said the Citizens Budget Commission, a government watchdog group.
Its report also said lawmakers, district attorneys and police — along with the MTA — must treat fare evasion as a serious offense instead of refusing to enforce the law.
“Losing $700 million to $800 million in revenue lost to fare evasion is not sustainable,” Ana Champeny, CBC’s vice president of research, told The Post.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, fare-beating cost the MTA about $200 million a year, before surging to upward of $800 million.
The MTA has started to “bend the curve” a bit on fare evasion on subways and buses over the past six months with fare gates, for example, “but this level of unpaid ridership puts significant pressure on the operating budget,” the report warned.
“There needs to be cooperation from law enforcement to issue citations, arrest repeat offenders, and prosecute theft of service,” it continued.
“Include provisions to catalyze action and provide tools to the District Attorneys, police and the MTA to dramatically turn the tide on fare evasion, which could increase revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars.”
The report said Albany’s contribution to the MTA’s five-year capital program should jump from $3 billion in the 2020-2024 plan to $10 billion in the new five-year plan.
New York City’s contribution should jump from $3 billion to $5 billion — a 66% increase, the report said.
CBC said the MTA should focus on rebuild and repair projects and postpone $3.6 billion in expansion programs, such as Hochul’s favored Brooklyn-Queens Interborough Express or light rail project.
The group also calls for “modest” increases in fares, tolls and vehicle registration fees to generate $6.8 billion in revenue.
The MTA also should trim $500 million in labor costs through productivity savings while reining in project cost overruns.
Even with these proposed actions, the MTA would still be short $16 billion for the $68.4 billion five-year plan.
New or higher taxes may have to be put on the table, but CBC cautioned such hikes should not undermine the region’s competitiveness.
Lawmakers could consider options including broadening the New York City-only MTA-supporting taxes to suburban counties — such as small increases in the payroll mobility tax or bumping up sales taxes.
“The simple truth is that support for the MTA has to come from somewhere. More funding should come from the State and City budgets, the system’s users, labor, and perhaps even other taxpayers, but disinvestment would hurt everyone,” CBC said.
