The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board postponed a highly anticipated vote on fare and toll hikes Thursday to continue mulling options. The board voted to push back the vote on the two fare hike proposals to its February meeting. The delay came despite an earlier warning from MTA operations that without the added funding, more service cuts might be needed to save money. Credit: News 12 Long Island

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board postponed a highly anticipated vote on fare and toll hikes Thursday in order to continue mulling options.

 The board voted to push back the vote on the two fare hike options to its February meeting, despite an earlier warning from MTA operations that without the added funds,  more service cuts might be needed to save money. Every month the fare and toll hike is delayed, the MTA estimates it will lose about $30 million.

The authority has estimated the increased rates  would add $316 million in each of the next two years.

The board's decision came as the authority faces a larger existential crisis around management, funding and service. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who effectively controls the authority, and advocacy groups oppose the hikes.

“I’m concerned that we're making a decision today, and we need to be a little bit slower, a little bit more thoughtful and need to consider a few more options,” board member Peter Ward said. Board member Veronica Vanterpool seconded the suggestion.

On Wednesday, Mitchell Pally, Long Island’s lone representative on the board, called on members to postpone the vote, in part so that they could have time to consider alternatives.

Pally said Thursday there have been at least two or three proposals board members have made to one another that look to be “more advantageous” than the price hike, which is one reason he supported the delay.

While Pally said he couldn't discuss those proposals, he said once members have had a chance to mull them over, and possibly come up with others, the suggestions likely will be openly shared in about two weeks.

One fare hike would have increased the base MetroCard fare by 25 cents, to $3, and offer higher purchasing bonuses, while the other would have kept the base fare at $2.75 but eliminated bonuses. The hikes initially were expected to take effect in March, marking the seventh increase since 2008.

Under the plan, the maximum increase on weekly and monthly Long Island Rail Road tickets would be 3.85 percent, with dollar increases capped at $15 for monthly tickets and $5.75 on weekly ones.

The MTA already is planning smaller-scale cuts alongside the increases, including reducing the number of subway car cleanings; delaying new Select Bus Service routes; reducing some transit service; and lowering the amount of heat and air conditioning pumped into subway cars.

Despite the MTA’s financial hardships, opponents believe riders are overtaxed. “The burden is already too high on riders,” State Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) said at the board meeting.

Still, any fare and toll hikes will not be the MTA's salvation. Even with the new money, the authority forecasts a growing budget gap that will reach nearly $1 billion  by 2022.

“I say not a penny more until the MTA gets its house in order,” Hoylman added.

Leading up to the vote, Cuomo attacked the authority over slipping bus, subway and rail service. He had called to “blow up” the authority and called off the long-planned L train shutdown.

At the same time, Cuomo attempted to distance himself from the authority. On WNYC on Wednesday, he told host Brian Lehrer the board was “wholly dysfunctional” and unaccountable, even though the governor appoints the plurality of board members; hires top leadership; and negotiates contracts with the transit union that affect the operating expenses and current budget crunch.

The MTA's troubles have led some elected officials to call for a city takeover of local city bus and subway service, a herculean task. Both City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. have endorsed the idea, and a state-convened panel aimed at securing the future of the MTA floated the concept as a potential option for a reorganization.

It remains to be seen how the rhetoric and actions of the board will impact a state decision on congestion pricing. Cuomo is lobbying for the policy as a way to secure up to $15 billion in new annual revenue.

“It’s up to the governor and the Legislature to provide new sustainable revenue on the scale necessary to seriously fix the subway,” said Colin Wright, an advocacy associate at the nonprofit TransitCenter.

With Alfonso A. Castillo and Patricia Kitchen

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