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NYC Subway, Bus Services Have Entered 'Death Spiral,' Experts Say (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) warned last week that without a major infusion of cash, [New York City's subway and bus services] will have to drastically cut service or increase fares on the system that carries millions of New Yorkers around the city. The system's financial straits have gotten worse in part because it has fewer riders, and is collecting less money in fares. Expected passenger revenue over a five-year period has dropped by $485 million since July.
"They've entered this death spiral," said Benjamin Kabak, who runs the transit website Second Avenue Sagas. "The subway service and the bus service has become unreliable enough for people to stop using it. If people aren't using it, there's less money, and they have to keep raising fares without delivering better service." The authority is proposing a fare hike that would take effect in March. One option would raise the basic fare for a ride to $3 from the current $2.75. Another option would leave the base fare the same but increase the cost of monthly passes and eliminate bonuses for riders. They are also proposing $41 million a year in service cuts, mainly increasing the time between trains and buses on some routes. And, if approved, the plan would delay the launch of faster bus routes. The proposed cuts "will still leave the MTA with massive deficits, expected to hit nearly $1 billion a year by 2022," the report says. "To tackle those deficits, officials say they would have to cut service more drastically, or raise fares by an additional 15%."
"They've entered this death spiral," said Benjamin Kabak, who runs the transit website Second Avenue Sagas. "The subway service and the bus service has become unreliable enough for people to stop using it. If people aren't using it, there's less money, and they have to keep raising fares without delivering better service." The authority is proposing a fare hike that would take effect in March. One option would raise the basic fare for a ride to $3 from the current $2.75. Another option would leave the base fare the same but increase the cost of monthly passes and eliminate bonuses for riders. They are also proposing $41 million a year in service cuts, mainly increasing the time between trains and buses on some routes. And, if approved, the plan would delay the launch of faster bus routes. The proposed cuts "will still leave the MTA with massive deficits, expected to hit nearly $1 billion a year by 2022," the report says. "To tackle those deficits, officials say they would have to cut service more drastically, or raise fares by an additional 15%."
Then some proper management can take over. Short term pain, but you get rid of a lot of corruption and liabilities.
Median income in NYC is around $59,000. The average salary of an MTA employee is around $90,000. Salaries, benefits, and retirement (the big issue - pensions) sucks up nearly $1.5 billion more than fares bring in. Meaning you start with a $1.5 billion deficit before you even spend a penny on infrastructure, power, ticket printing, etc. Get rid of the gold-plated benefits and pension packages, scale the wages back down to a reasonable level, and you might be able to save the system...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
It's identifying (and rectifying) why services have become unreliable to the point people don't want to use them.
Identifying the problem is easy. What if it can't be fixed without dramatic changes that will negatively affect powerful political interests?
NYC has one-party government. How is anyone involved incentivised to do anything beyond the absolute minimum to keep a paycheck?
New Yorkers are upset. So what? What are they going to do, vote Republican?