How Surprising, Promised Service Upgrades Get Shelved
In a move that will hardly surprise anyone, the MTA has officially shelved the service upgrades we were promised back in December as a reward for the fare hike that we were to endure. Daily News Transit Reporter Pete Donohue along with Kenneth Lovett has more on this:
The cash-strapped will not launch a $60 million service improvement package because it doesn’t have the money, the Daily News has learned.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority last year unveiled plans that included more frequent bus, subway and commuter trains to soften the blow of fare hikes. The program was to be launched in phases starting this summer – if the authority could afford it.
It can’t, sources said.
“A final decision won’t be made on the enhancements until we report June revenue numbers next week, but revenues would have to turn around significantly as we are already $80 million behind in real estate taxes alone,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said.
The program would cost $30 million this year and twice that amount for all of next year.
The MTA receives revenue from taxes on certain real estate transactions, but those funds are well below projections.
State lawmakers are about to go home after failing again to enact legislation directing more taxpayer funds to support mass transit, raising the specter of more fare and toll hikes next year.
Meanwhile, some MTA board members yesterday expressed shock that MTA CEO Elliot Sander recently was granted a raise.
“I’m floored,” said one board member after reading the Daily News’ exclusive article on the pay raise. “We’re trying to find ways to cut costs.”
The member said the raise was a “symbolic” gaffe that sent the wrong message about the MTA’s commitment to finding savings.
MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger gave a $10,000 raise to Sander, lifting his salary and other benefits to $350,000. Hemmerdinger said the 3% increase was warranted in part because Sander could make far more in a private sector job.
Gov. Paterson declined to immediately comment on the appropriateness of the raise but did say, “At first blush, anything that involves money, even if it’s slight, is a difficult issue for us right now.”
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester) said the issue detracts attention from the more serious problem of the MTA’s massive budget gaps. “Timing is everything in life,” Brodsky said. They ought to chisel that on somebody’s forehead.
For starters, I am not surprised that riders will not get the promised service upgrades. Yes, the upgrades were promised on the notion that their financial situation would not turn south in the first 3 months of 2008. Yes, I acknowledge the fact that the MTA’s finances have been in the dumps this year. However don’t we the riding public deserve these upgrades?
We have put up with the fare hike & have been expecting these upgrades for months now. Now we are supposed to continue to deal with the fare hike, get no service upgrades, & prepare for the next fare hike which is just about a certainty to take place next year? This is getting out of hand!
Speaking of getting out of hand, the math used by the MTA must be called into question. Lets first start with a portion of an article by William Neuman of the New York Times:
The service additions are expected to cost $16 million next year and $46 million in 2009. The proposed fare increase would bring in $90 million in 2008 and $110 million the next year, the authority said.
So let me get this straight, the same exact service upgrades, which would have costed $16 million this year & $30 million the next, would now cost $30 million & $60 million respectively? Lets say the numbers would need to be adjusted due to rising costs by $1- $2 million, this still does not explain the huge differences in the respective price tags. Is our economy in the toilet at the moment? Yes, it is! However is it in such bad shape to cause price tags to just about & actually double within 6 months? No, not a chance!
This is yet another example of the fuzzy math & accounting practices that take place inside the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. How can we trust these numbers which come from an agency which has been busted for keeping different sets of books on their financial state? The answer for now is we can’t & the shelving of these upgrades can only be seen in one way. The upgrades were nothing but a bunch of lies to push along their fare hike agenda.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Elliot Might Get Even More
While browsing the Daily News website, I came across an article which shares even more details about the raise approved, by MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger, for MTA CEO & Executive Director Elliot Sander. It turns out the $10,000 raise is only the tip of the iceberg as work deemed “exemplary” would earn Mr. Sander even more cash. Daily News Transit Reporter Pete Donohue has more:
The MTA’s $350,000-a-year CEO not only snagged a raise in May but a series of hikes and potential bonuses totaling about $32,000 over two years, the Daily News has learned.
An amendment to Elliot Sander’s contract reveals that as the MTA slipped deeper into a fiscal crisis – to the point of possible fare increases and service reductions – Sander renegotiated the terms of his employment to get raises of at least 3% in January 2009 and January 2010.
If Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger deems Sander’s management “exemplary,” then he also gets a $10,000 payment in December 2009 – and $15,000 the following December, the document says.
The News reported Tuesday that Sander’s total economic package, including a base salary of $265,000 and a monthly housing allowance, was boosted to $350,000 last month.
With the contract changes, Sander could ultimately make more than $382,000 in 2010.
The additional details came Wednesday when the MTA, responding to a Freedom of Information Law request, provided the actual contract amendment.
“For the vast majority of riders, these salary increases are puzzling at a time of threatened fare hikes,” said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.
The MTA in December projected a 2009 operating budget deficit of nearly $220 million. Last week, Sander said the deteriorating economy, resulting in few tax revenues and higher costs, could translate into a deficit in the range of $500 million to $700 million. Fare and toll hikes are a real possibility, he warned.
Hemmerdinger on Monday defended increasing Sander’s pay in part by saying he is paid less than the heads of smaller transit agencies.
I made my feelings known about this raise on Tuesday. It is absolutely disgusting to know he could potentially earn even more money. Yes, he is underpaid compared to other similar ranking transit executives, but now is not the time to dish out raises when you are allegedly too poor to run to the best of your abilities.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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Upstate Screws The City Again
The theme of Upstate NY screwing over New York City is nothing new. The practice of screwing with NYC has been going on for years with the latest example occurring on Tuesday when a major transportation bill failed to pass. The State Assembly Transportation Committee shot down a bill 14-11 that would have permitted bus-mounted cameras to deter cars from using bus-only lanes. The bill which has support from many elected officials & transit advocates was seen as a key component towards the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit.
The outrage about the bill’s defeat stems from the fact that a representative for Rochester is the one who led the charge to shoot the bill down. The villian in this case is Rochester Democrat David Gnatt who chairs the State Assembly Transportation Committee. It is bad enough that someone who does not have knowledge of New York City’s transportation needs is deciding what we do & don’t need. However to find out that the reasons he gave are nothing but double talk is infuriating.
You see, Mr. Gnatt has in the past resisted any sort of automated enforcement due to privacy concerns. However last month he sponsored a bill that would expand the use of the red light cameras to counties outside of New York City. Did he have a sudden change of heart in regards to his privacy concerns? No, not in the least bit. It turns out the bill he sponsored contained language that benefited a specific company that employed one of his former aides as a lobbyist.
This is the exactly what is wrong with our state government & government as a whole. There are too many people making decisions that benefit their own agenda or someone they care about or owe a favor to. Benjamin K. of Second Avenue Sagas nailed it perfectly when he said:
In the end, New York City is at the mercy of people who have other interests and don’t live in the city. These are people who don’t know why we need Bus Rapid Transit and aren’t content to let New York City’s own Council determine the appropriate courses of action. Instead, they’re happy to reap the economic benefits of New York City while utterly depriving the residents of much-needed transportation solutions such as bus rapid transit lanes. Last time, we had Sheldon Silver — a Manhattan-based representative — to thank; this time, we’ve got David F. Gnatt
At some point, these shenanigans have got to stop. As I’m just left annoyed and wondering when some real leadership will land in the state of assembly, can New York City secede in the meantime?
I highly suggest reading his entry on the defeat of this bill. Also check out Ben Fried’s report on Streetsblog where the news of the bill being defeated first broke.
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Raise Rage
On Tuesday, I blogged about MTA CEO & Executive Director Elliot Sander getting approved for a $10,000 increase to his total salary compensation package. Since then, bloggers, media, & transit advocates have expressed concern or outrage at the raise. Now the Daily News has joined in via their editorial section which had this piece titled “Get Off The Gravy Train”:
The subways are flat broke, busted. Straphangers are facing a fare hike in 2009, the second in two years. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority does not have the money to deliver promised improvements and might actually be forced to cut service.
So, hey, let’s give MTA Chief Executive Lee Sander a $10,000 raise on top of the $340,000 compensation called for in his contract, and let’s make it retroactive to January, and, while we’re at it, let’s build in guaranteed future raises.
That’s what the MTA okayed. And how dumb and infuriating can they be? Plenty of both.
Sander and his boss, Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger, are doing their level best to convince New York that they are out-of-touch plutocrats who share a rarefied sense of privilege.
No, 10 grand won’t break the budget. It’s the thought – or rather the lack of thinking – that counts. And it’s the same boneheaded tone-deafness that Hemmerdinger showed in trying to defend lifetime E-ZPasses and transit passes for former MTA board members.
The message he and Sander are sending is that sacrifice starts with straphangers – the very public Hemmerdinger and Sander will need at their side in the coming battle for transit funding in Albany.
Oh, them. The riders. The toll payers. The people who are getting hammered every which way by rising prices, don’t get a break on anything and certainly can’t top off big fat paychecks with a couple hundred bucks more a week.
Sander has just begun what’s going to be a long drive to press the Legislature and governor for money. He’s got the facts on his side. The MTA’s operating budget is as much as $700 million in the red. Unless the state comes through – as was promised – the riders will pay huge freight. At the same time, the MTA’s budget for maintaining and expanding the system itself is a whopping $20 billion out of whack.
Sander and Hemmerdinger must put the focus on getting money from Albany instead of on the generous perks they get for running the show. That they can offer a rationale for why Sander’s $10,000 hike makes policy sense is meaningless.
(For the record, other management employees got 3% raises to keep them on pace with unionized workers; Sander makes less than transit bosses in other cities; some of Sander’s subordinates got contractual raises; you have to pay well to keep talent, and so on and so forth.)
You have heard it all before.
What you should now hear is that, starting with Sander, those at the top will turn back programmed raises until MTA finances are fairly squared away. They, too, must sacrifice.
I happen to agree with the last point made about Sander & others at the top turning back programmed raises. Such an action has been done by many executives in different sectors so this would not be that difficult to do. Now do I expect this to happen? No, I do not although if Elliot did do this, it would fit his makeup from what I could tell. I am not holding my breath though as even the good guy makes the wrong choice at times.
xoxo Transit Blogger
You might enjoy reading these related entries:- Elliot Might Get Even More
- MTA CEO Elliot Sander Says The Fare Hike Can Not Wait!
- Dale Hemmerdinger Editorial
- MTA Plans & Finances Editorial
- MTA CEO Elliot Sander Discusses The MTA’s Financial Hardship
So That’s What Happened
Earlier today, I posted a service alert regarding 
train service. The reason stated in the service alert was a passenger “requiring medical assistance”. Now details have come out as to what exactly happened. Here is the story by Matthew Sweeney courtesy of AMNY:
A man was pulled to safety after suffering a seizure and falling onto the subway tracks at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue after 12 p.m. today.
NYC Transit was able to shut down power to the third rail before a train could enter the station and the man was taken off the tracks. His condition was not immediately known.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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