The chief watchdog group for the MTA released their annual report today (read it yourself below) sternly criticizing the agency on its mismanagement of several different projects. The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee said in the report that it was "extremely disappointed" that a lawsuit between the MTA and Lockheed Security has ground plans to install anti-terror video cameras around the city to a halt. $833 million has already been invested in the plan, which is currently in limbo: "There is no definitive word on what the next step will be. The lapse in moving forward with this initiative is inexcusable," the report states.
The Committee also criticizes the "indecision" surrounding the SmartCard fare system, which would eliminate card swipes on subways and buses. The report isn't all negative: it also praises the "development of numerous initiatives aimed at improving travel times, comfort and accessibility" during a "tumultuous" year, reports Second Avenue Sagas
Meanwhile, public advocate Bill de Blasio criticized the MTA for threatening to lay off over 1,000 workers in an attempt to cost-cut, NY1 reports. "If the subway system is no longer safe, people won't be riding the subways...You know, for a long time we've been encouraging people to use mass transit. It's actually started to happen and now we're going to make the subway system less safe? That makes no sense," de Blasio told reporters. Nearly $27 million in revenue is lost a year due to turnstile jumping, and nearly $8 million is lost from bus fare evasion.
Streetsblog points out that the budget cuts that have led to many of these drastic cost-cutting measures (which include axing student MetroCards and raising fares nearly 7.5 percent next year) have a more insidious origin:
The overwhelming majority of the $143 million reduction in transit funding did not originate from the state budget. Instead, Albany took dedicated transit tax revenues from the MTA and redirected them to the state's general fund. In effect, Albany stole $118 million from transit to subsidize the rest of the state budget. That's enough money to restore all the subway and bus cuts currently on the table in the MTA's austerity plan.
