How is MTA a bureaucracy/can be less bureacratic? Read asap!

People close to the city core don't like to hear it, but essentially the MTA in it's current form was founded because Public Transportation isn't a financially sustainable mode of transportation.

As the Authority they gained control of the funding from the TBTA. This is the largest form of non-tax related income the MTA has.
Basically the money collected from Bridges & Tunnels that used to go 100% towards new roads and bridges, now only goes 10% towards such, and 90% towards subsidizing the rail/subway/bus system.

If, not as an authority, they wouldnl't have the right to payroll tax people in Suffolk, Dutchess, Putnam- and counties where the service is scarcely used.

Having this kind of access to money, without any accountability to show for it- makes them eligible to distribute spending within their system as they see fit.

If tomorrow they decided to charge $10 per head on the Staten Island Ferry, who really could stop them- short of the Governor himself removing the board from Office.

It's like those public hearings they have- you certainly can go and speak. They're not inclined or required to do anything though.

We don't directly vote for those who represent.
... and the majority of people who actually pay for their services (in which they make a profit) don't use public transportation.

[queensgrl]

So based on your analysis, the nyc transit portion of the mta isn't profitable but the tbta is? Is that what you're saying? So there's a pool of available money from the tbta that's currently unused?

[Fred314X]

Originally Posted by queensgrl

Thanks for the history lesson. I didn't realize the Authority was created way back in the 60s. So are you saying that there's no benefit to breaking up the MTA because this "convenient place to stash money" would disappear? What are they stashing the money for? Pray, tell us.

I personally do not have the inside scoop on the reasons for stashing the money. But I do believe I can offer you an educated guess: it's being hidden away for their benefit. Not mine, not yours, and certainly not for the four-million-plus other people in the city who use the transit system on a daily basis.

Right at this moment, even as you read these words, MTA has more than enough money so that there didn't have to be service cuts or layoffs...and projects we really need (such as the 2nd Avenue subway line) could be chugging along full steam ahead. The fact that this isn't the case tells you that something is wrong. Very wrong. And believe me when I tell you, Jay I-Got-My-Salary-Package-Guaranteed-No-Matter-What Walder is not the solution to the problem.

Of course, practices like that would still exist if MTA was broken up. But if it was broken up, the resulting operating agencies wouldn't be 'authorities,' and so they'd at least have to be more accountable.

Originally Posted by queensgrl

So based on your analysis, the nyc transit portion of the mta isn't profitable but the tbta is? Is that what you're saying? So there's a pool of available money from the tbta that's currently unused?

Yes. NYCT (bus & subway) could not continue it's day to day operations because of budget crisis during the Rockerfeller era. Leading to his consolidation (by permission) incorporating Robert Moses & the TBTA into the current day MTA.
This stands true today- removing TBTA money from the equation, and subway/bus fares would need to double to keep budget.

NYCT bleeds money- as do nearly ALL public transit systems in the world. The only difference we see in huge urban cities like Tokyo, Paris, London is that there is an amount of federal monies getting pushed into the system, as it is considered of national importance to both the Capital and Largest cities in those respective countries, USA is an exception to this rule, as NYC is an anomaly to typical american living.

... and until NYC MTA can create a transit system that is timely, cost-efficient, has a far lower energy usage/carbon footprint than private transit, I can't see a single reason why the feds, or any taxpayer should pump money into that system.

You can easily bring into your project all the recent Payroll Repeal lawsuits and follow on that.