MTA Postpones Doomsday Cuts, Takes On More Debt And Prays For Federal Aid

The $17 billion budget includes no major cuts to service or job losses but there's a catch. [View this email in your browser]( MTA Postpones Doomsday Cuts, Takes On More Debt And Prays For Federal Aid Dollar Vans Are In Financial Trouble, Mayor Pete As Transportation Secretary, Two Men Were Killed In Separate Crashes, De Blasio Will Ride The Subway Someday, A Winter Storm Car Crash, and Airport Romance. By Annie Todd MARC A. HERMANN / MTA NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT For months, the MTA has been beating the drum of [financial ruin]( warning of a “fiscal tsunami” and [warning that the end of mass transit as we know it was nigh](. On Wednesday, the MTA board changed its tune. The board passed a non-controversial $17 billion budget that included no major cuts to service, nor major job losses. This, for an agency that has [said it’s losing $200 million a week]( from pandemic-related customer losses, and additional cleaning expenses. But there is a catch. MTA executives presented the budget on the assumption that “soon” [Congress will pass a relief package]( includes $4.5 billion for the MTA, the exact amount it needs for a balanced 2021 budget. And still, the MTA isn’t done cranking the handle on the doom-and-gloom machine. The agency is working under the assumption that ridership won’t return to near pre-pandemic levels until 2024. So it’s also hoping for an additional $8 billion in federal relief to avoid a projected 40 percent cut in subway and bus service, a 50 percent cut to commuter rail service, and nearly 9,000 job cuts. “This isn’t a bluff, this is real,” MTA Chairman Pat Foye said Wednesday. The MTA wouldn’t say when it needed the $4.5 billion for 2021 by, and said the other funding could come at various intervals over the next three years. The agency is still planning on [fare and toll hikes this spring,]( although the exact increases will be presented in January. "Hiking fares with offices closed, ridership low, and subways shut overnight unfairly asks essential workers and low-income riders to pay more for less. Governor Cuomo must find new, progressive funding sources rather than balance his budget on riders' backs,” Danny Pearlstein, Policy and Communications Director at Riders Alliance, said in a statement. [—Reporting by]( Nessen]( Dollar Vans Hit Hard During The Pandemic Taxi and Limousine Commission Commuter vans, also known as dollar vans, have been hit especially hard during the pandemic, as many of the riders who rely on their services have disappeared. Only 61 out of 691 [commuter vans]( licensed to operate within New York City were in service as of December 9th, according to the [Taxi and Limousine Commission.]( "There’s no good day out here,” Roan Lindo, 56, a dollar-van driver for 17 years, told The City. “I need a 9 to 5 job, because it’s tough out here. It’s bad, bad, bad.” Commuter vans, licensed and unlicensed, serve [transportation deserts]( in parts of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. Many of these areas are in immigrant neighborhoods and rides cost around $2 — less than the cost of a subway ride. “It’s our people in our community,” said one driver of an unlicensed commuter van. “The 80-year-old ladies that rely on this thing and wait outside in the cold, that’s who we are there for.” When the subway first shutdown for overnight cleaning in May, the MTA contracted with some of the licensed commuter van services but the program, which served 1,500 workers nightly, ended in August. The only hope now for the commuter van recovery is the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out, says the head the TLC. “We are hopeful that the COVID-19 vaccines will serve as a catalyst for our recovery,” said Commissioner Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk, chair of the TLC. [—]( the full story in]( City]( Here's What Else Is Happening A mayor named Pete is being asked to be President-elect Biden's Transportation Secretary. The former mayor of South Bend, IN, and Democratic presidential primary candidate, Pete Buttigieg, has been nominated by President-elect Joe Biden as Transportation Secretary. Janette Sadik-Khan, former Department of Transportation commissioner for New York City under the Bloomberg administration, said that Buttigieg will offer a unique perspective on transportation and he was the only primary candidate to have a fully throughout plan when it came to integrating transportation policy and climate policy. "It’s critical and wonderful to see that that connection is being made at the federal level," she said. ([T]( Brian Lehrer Show]( Two men were killed in separate car crashes in Queens. In one of the crashes, Taher Ali Hassan had exited his car after hitting the back of a Nissan Pathfinder. Hassan was struck by Jason Bical, who was drunk, according to the Queens DA's office. In the second crash, Christian Carrion-Rivera was speeding in a stolen car with Felix Lopez in the passenger seat. Carrion-Rivera hit two trees and spun into the center median. Rivera fled the scene, while Lopez was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. ([Gothamist]( Before he leaves office, Mayor Bill de Blasio will ride the subway. While celebrating the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, Mayor de Blasio said he would ride the subway sometime before the end of the pandemic to prove that public transportation is safe. The mayor has ridden the subway a number of times with the press following along. But we're still waiting to see Governor Andrew Cuomo walk through the turnstiles. ([Streetsblog]( The winter storm caused a serious pile-up on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Six people were injured in a 27-vehicle pile-up Wednesday night during the snow storm. Four people were seriously injured while the two others sustained minor injuries. Everyone was taken to the hospital. ([T]( New York Post]( Airports are still romantic. In his nomination speech for transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg talked about how airports like Chicago O'Hare, where he proposed to his husband Chasten, were still romantic. Picture it: romantic leads in dramas running to each other after a fight and making up in front of the gate causing the one to miss their flight and irritating gate agents. The O'Hare Airport Twitter account responded to Buttigieg's comment saying they were looking forward to working with him in the future. ([The Washington Post]( That's One Way To Travel Weekend Service Changes: Night of December 18th – Early Morning on December 21st. This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. Note: The entire subway system is closed each night from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. until further notice. and trains will run along the between W 4th and Jay St. trains will not run between 168 St and 207 St. trains will not run between 145 St and 168 St. trains will not run between Parkchester and Pelhman Bay Park. Coney Island-bound trains run via from 36-St to Stillwell Av. Coney Island-bound trains will run along the from Roosevelt Av to 5 Av/53 St. No trains between Church Av and Stillwell Av. Astoria-bound trains run express from Stillwell Av to 59 St. Bay Ridge-Bound trains run express from Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr to 59 St, Brooklyn. Forest Hills-bound trains run express from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt Av. No trains between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Pkwy. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. Annie Todd will always have daydreams about romantic airport meetings. Programming note: we'll be off for the. next two weeks for the holidays. See you next year! (Photo by Jacob Kaye) Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential transportation coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2020 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](