After the MTA's Finance Committee voted yesterday to approve a package of severe fare increases (hello, $103 monthly unlimited Metrocard) and drastic service cuts (good-bye, W and Z lines; farewell, bus routes—see the PDF of NYC Transit changes here), MTA board member Allen Cappelli said, "There are 45 hours left before this disaster goes into effect." The MTA board is scheduled to vote on the fare hikes tomorrow.

However, in spite of pleas from MTA management—chairman Dale Hemmerdinger told the NY Times his message to Albany, "How about just, ‘Help'"—the State Legislature appears to be deadlocked (or playing a really ridiculous game of chicken) over how to rescue the MTA. In one corner, there's Governor Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who support a plan to raise subway/ bus fares by 8%, put tolls on East River and Harlem River Bridges and implement a payroll tax (all considered necessary to help with the MTA's debt) while Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith's proposal offers a 4% fare hike, no bridge tolls, and a smaller payroll tax (considered to be flawed, because its numbers were miscalculated and might require a 13% fare hike).

Paterson, who has unsuccessfully called upon Republican State Senators to push his and Silver's plan in the Senate, said the MTA should approve its "doomsday" budget since, essentially, Albany can't get its head out of its ass, "Delaying action, to me, would just ring too true to what's gone on in Albany too many times." See how service cuts will affect you, via a tool from the Comptroller Thompson's office. Here's a PDF of the proposed NYC Transit changes, after the jump, the proposed subway/bus fare hikes:

  • Single rides would go from $2 to $2.50—a 25% hike;
  • 7-day unlimited cards would be $31 (currently $25)—a 24% hike;
  • 14-day unlimited cards would be $59 (currently $47)—a 25% hike;
  • 30-day unlimited card would be $103 (currently $81)—a 27% hike;
  • 7-day express bus cards would be $51 (currently $41)—a 24% hike;
  • Pay-per-ride Metrocard bonuses are kept intact (though what the final bonuses are is still undetermined)