MTA Revises Planned Service Cuts

MYFOXNY.COM — After a series of public hearing on proposed service cuts, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority issued Friday a list of revised proposals for service cuts to help close a nearly $800 billion budget gap.

The revised changes are meant to “ease some of the pain associated with the cuts and are based on public feedback from the MTA’s nine public hearings and thousands of emails, letters and phone calls,” the MTA said.

The revised plan does not restore funding to student MetroCards; the MTA board said it will consider that issue later in the spring to allow the city and state to come up with more money to fund the program.

“The enormous public reaction to the proposed cuts reminds everyone how fundamental the transit system is to New Yorkers and how painful any cut can be,” said MTA Chairman Jay H. Walder. “While our budget deficit forces us to move ahead with most of the cuts, we were able to take a number of the most painful cuts off the table based on what we heard from our customers.”