NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — If the MTA doesn't get billions of dollars in bailout money from the feds, a transit advocacy group warns New Yorkers could find themselves waiting up to an hour for a bus or subway train.
The Riders Alliance found wait times could increase anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour if the MTA has to enact its "doomsday" cuts.
"Doomsday MTA cuts will harshly transform the lives of New Yorkers," the group said. "They will rob hundreds of hours each year from millions of hard-working Americans trying to get to and from their jobs."
Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance, told News12 in the Bronx that "millions of people could soon be enduring much longer waits for service and much less reliable trains and bus service."
The transit agency has said it may have to cut service by up to 40 percent and lay off thousands of workers unless it receives $12 billion from the federal government.
MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye called the Riders Alliance's prediction "horrific."
"It's unimaginable. It would be horrific in terms of the impact on transportation, social equity, the economy," Foye told WCBS 880 on Wednesday morning. "We can't let that happen and the only way we can avoid that is for the federal government, specifically the Republican-led U.S. Senate to provide funding. Obviously they have left Washington, but there is time after the election, before the end of the year, for funding for New York State, New York City and the MTA. Funding for all three is desperately needed."
Foye said the Riders Alliance did "a real public service" by conducting the study to bring attention to the agency's dire financial situation.
"I think the message of the study is the damage of New York commuting on both subways, buses and the commuter rails would be absolutely horrific. It would have a horrible impact on our customers from a quality-of-life point of view," Foye said. "The other horrific consequence would be the impact on the New York City regional economy if we had to make these cuts, which no one at the MTA wants to put in place."
In a virtual meeting on Wednesday, the MTA chairman reiterated that the agency is in dire need of emergency funding.
“We face a five-alarm fire and a fiscal tsunami,” Foye told MTA Board members.
Foye says that without federal help the area's economy will take a $65 billion hit.
“The Rudin and Appleseed report estimates the reduction in MTA service of up to 40% on subways and up to 50%on the railroads, would have an enormous negative impact on the region,” he said.
Earlier this month, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned that without help from the federal government, the MTA faces drastic service cuts, increases in fares and tolls, unsustainable debt and staffing reductions.
DiNapoli said the MTA could be forced to borrow billions of dollars to maintain services, amassing a "suffocating" debt that could take generations to recover from.