Comptroller Offers Fare Hike Alternative, Proposes to Raise Car Fees

NEW YORK, NY — The New York City comptroller, William C. Thompson Jr., said on Sunday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s gaping budget deficits could be diminished by increasing automobile registration fees in 12 counties served by the authority’s trains and buses.

At a press conference outside Grand Central Terminal, Mr. Thompson said that drivers now pay $30 every two years to register a vehicle in New York City, though they also pay additional state fees.

He proposed adding an annual fee of $100 for drivers in the city and nearby counties who register vehicles weighing up to 2,300 pounds, with vehicles above that weight also being assessed an additional 9 cents per pound.

The fees, which Mr. Thompson said would go directly to the authority, could total about $1 billion per year, with some $350 million from New York City residents. The authority faces a $1.2 billion deficit next year, and it unveiled a budget on Thursday that called for a 23 percent increase in tolls and fares along with cutbacks in service and layoffs. Mr. Thompson, a Democratic candidate for mayor, said he feared that the proposed fare increases would make mass transit unaffordable for some riders.

“This is a devastating budget proposal from the M.T.A.,” Mr. Thompson said. “Once again, New York’s transit riders are being asked to cover its budget shortfalls.”

Under his proposal, which would have to be approved by the State Legislature, the highest fees would be paid by those driving the biggest vehicles. For instance, he said, someone driving a Lincoln Navigator, a luxury sport utility vehicle that weighs about 6,000 pounds, would pay a registration fee of nearly $450 per year in the city.

The comptroller also called for a revival of the commuter tax, which was abolished in 1999 and which he said could add another $760 million per year in coming years.

“My plan could potentially generate almost $2 billion annually for the subways, buses and commuter rails while promoting energy independence, addressing urgent climate change goals and easing parking shortages in New York City neighborhoods,” he said.

Mr. Thompson said he would submit his plan on Monday to a commission headed by Richard Ravitch, a former chairman of the transportation authority. The commission, which was appointed over the summer by Gov. David A. Paterson, is expected to make recommendations in early December for ways to operate and finance the authority over the next decade.

On Sunday, Mr. Ravitch declined to comment on Mr. Thompson’s proposal, but said that the commission’s members were considering a wide variety of ideas.

The authority also declined to address the proposal directly.