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i recently found out that the MTA levies a surcharge which is applied to cell phone bills of those who live inside NYC, but my question is, why?
a cellphone unlike a taxi or train or tolled highway/bridge, has nothing to do with transportation. why not simply raise rates (i assume the surcharge is at least somewhat necessary) or draw the money from something more understandable (ie a surcharge on property taxes or SPLOST)?
i mean i can understand things (as related to phones) like the USF (assists in providing service to rural areas), 911 "tax" (since you'd be using a phone to call 911) etc, but this seems to be "out of the way", if that makes sense.
The MTA cannot manage their budget, and basically reaches out to EVERYTHING it can in order to make ends meet. This includes -
Every time you sit in a taxi.
The majority of every bridge & tunnel you travel operated by the MTA goes towards their general fund.
Every car registration and license in ALL of NEW YORK STATE
Every car rental in ALL of NEW YORK STATE
Payrolls in Nassau, Dutchess, Orange, Westchester counties
Yet they cry if you take these subsidies away they will have to shut major amounts of service- then we keep them going and they cut the service anyway.
The MTA cannot manage their budget, and basically reaches out to EVERYTHING it can in order to make ends meet. This includes -
Every time you sit in a taxi.
The majority of every bridge & tunnel you travel operated by the MTA goes towards their general fund. Every car registration and license in ALL of NEW YORK STATE
Every car rental in ALL of NEW YORK STATE
Payrolls in Nassau, Dutchess, Orange, Westchester counties
Yet they cry if you take these subsidies away they will have to shut major amounts of service- then we keep them going and they cut the service anyway.
that seems punitive - so everyone in NYC will be paying somehow for the MTA, even the citizens (or visitors) who may never use it?
so if i was to visit Buffalo to visit family, and decided to rent a car to explore the area i'd be paying an MTA charge of some sort?
The MTA cannot manage their budget, and basically reaches out to EVERYTHING it can in order to make ends meet. This includes -
Every time you sit in a taxi.
The majority of every bridge & tunnel you travel operated by the MTA goes towards their general fund.
Every car registration and license in ALL of NEW YORK STATE
Every car rental in ALL of NEW YORK STATE
Payrolls in Nassau, Dutchess, Orange, Westchester counties
Yet they cry if you take these subsidies away they will have to shut major amounts of service- then we keep them going and they cut the service anyway.
And if the MTA had no money, there'd be no service, and without subway or bus service, NYC's economy would grind to a halt, and that would just be destructive for not just NYC, but to an extent NYS and the entire country.
And if the MTA had no money, there'd be no service, and without subway or bus service, NYC's economy would grind to a halt, and that would just be destructive for not just NYC, but to an extent NYS and the entire country.
If you can't afford it- you have to adjust.
Move to a location where you can walk to work.
Don't buy a pair of $250 dollar headphones if it means the Subway will cost $2.75 a ride.
Operate severely reduced services on Holidays if you can't afford payroll.
If you live in rural New York State and you don't own a car- you'd be in some serious trouble- no one in the state is paying for you to have a car, or fill your tank up- only for the roads (infrastructure).
The availability of transit in downstate is a great thing- but the fares need to be raised to match the cost of doing such a business.
Don't use 'the economy' of the city as some excuse why the city has a god-given right to transit. It comes with a cost that is unduly put on people who NEVER use it.
MTA taxes should not leave the city or the region in which MTA products exist- and should be weighted based on what kind of service exists.
No one in Dutchess county should pay the same amount of MTA tax when they have 6 trains a day into Grand Central, when someone in Bronx County has thousands of trains and buses going through a day.
that seems punitive - so everyone in NYC will be paying somehow for the MTA, even the citizens (or visitors) who may never use it?
so if i was to visit Buffalo to visit family, and decided to rent a car to explore the area i'd be paying an MTA charge of some sort?
That's how it currently works.
Remember, MTA is a State agency, not one of the City of New York.
Therefore the agency can impose taxes on the entirety of New York State, without just cause.
The A in MTA stands for Authority- which means they answer only to the office of the Governor, and can also through state legislature impose fees and taxes without public vote.
The MTA goes so far as to charge business' who are in competition with the MTA, taxes to help fund its operation.
sure if they AUDIT the MTA they will find out there are a lot of sticky fingers and there is more money coming in they we know of. Makes no sense more an more people move to nyc and use MTA and every year they cry they are broke..ummmmmm
sure if they AUDIT the MTA they will find out there are a lot of sticky fingers and there is more money coming in they we know of. Makes no sense more an more people move to nyc and use MTA and every year they cry they are broke..ummmmmm
There are few public transit systems in the world that can make a balanced budget- but MTA's is probably the worst case in the civilized world.
Ultimately if the riders and voters start forcing accountability now, it will be a shorter period of time before there is reform necessary to fix the internal issues of the MTA.
Band-aiding it as such as happened will ultimately just continue to burden people unrelated.
My prediction is it will ultimately financially crash with the huge influx of retirees (who will likely all leave NYS) and the State and City will beg the feds to bail them out- and then all 50 states + DC will be responsible for footing a bill for a transit service they will likely use seldom in their whole lives, if not ever.
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There are few public transit systems in the world that can make a balanced budget- but MTA's is probably the worst case in the civilized world.
