This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The MTA board voted 11-2 to approve far-reaching service cuts that will eliminate the W and V trains and cut more than 30 bus lines in an attempt to plug a revenue shortfall of $750 million. Despite some alterations to the planned cuts drafted after a series of contentious public hearings, the service reductions closely mirror those proposed last year.
Starting in June, the MTA will eliminate 33 local and express bus routes, halt overnight service on 15 routes, and end weekend service on 16 routes, according to the Daily News. The agency will also implement a system-wide reduction in subway service that will make trains less frequent and seats less common. Under the cuts, the agency will eliminate the W train and replace it by extending the Q train into Queens and making the N train run local in Manhattan. The MTA will also cut the V train and replace it with an altered M train that will connect to the V line at the Broadway-Lafayette station and run its Manhattan and Queens route (the rush-hour M train extension that services Brooklyn along the R and D lines would be cut). Under the approved cuts, the G train will terminate at Court Square station.
The MTA also plans to layoff hundreds of station agents and other employees and eliminate free student MetroCards (a controversial proposal that won't be brought before the MTA board until June). "Nobody likes this vote. It's obviously a very painful vote, and I don't think there's anyone sitting around this table that would take it likely. It's a vote that affects a lot of people's lives," MTA Vice Chairman Andrew Saul told NY1. "But we must also be realistic here. There will be no outside help from the city, the state and from the counties, and therefore we must squeeze every nickel that we can out of our own resources."
Board member Allen Cappelli told the Post that legislature "wrote us a bad check" and blasted city and state officials for "trying to blame us for what is entirely their responsibility."
