How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
The MTA's service cuts and fare hikes may be more dramatic than planned.
After the authority announced last week that it faces a $400 million budget gap this year, many, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, think it will need to enact deeper service cuts and higher fare hikes if it does not receive additional funding from the state.
Although some have suggested the MTA redirect funds from construction and renovation projects to prevent these measures, MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said the authority would prefer to avoid that.
"Taking money from capital construction to put into operating solves a short-term problem [by] creating a much longer-term problem," he said. "This is what allowed the New York City subway system and bus system to decay in the 1970s."
Because of the authority's fiscal situation, it already initiated a number of cuts, including the discontinuation of student Metro Cards and the elimination of some bus and subway lines. It also raised the base fare for a bus or subway ride from $2 to $2.25.
An additional 7.5 percent fare increase is already planned for 2011.
Donovan also said the MTA is doing everything it can to accommodate everyone.
"The MTA has been very clear that it will maintain its commitment not to raise fare hikes in 2010," Donovan said.
