NYC Area Commuters To Be Socked Screwed

Whether you drive or take the subway, the price of commuting is going up - and Mayor Bloomberg says you're going to get "socked" either way.

"You can sock it to the straphangers, or you can sock it to the public - or you can let the system fall apart," Bloomberg said yesterday.

"The third is indefensible, and I think the answer is a combination of the other two," he said.

Bloomberg wouldn't say outright if he supports the MTA's proposed fare hike for next year. But he noted the cost of running subways and buses is climbing, while the era of fat budget surpluses is likely coming to a close.

"Having everybody pay something" is the fairest solution, the mayor said.

This is coming from Mayor Bloomberg, who has already made it clear that he has no problem tagging commuters for $2,000 to $5,000 more a year in his congestion pricing tax. The problems are that the alternatives to driving are going to become a whole lot more expensive - the MTA is saying that they need to raise fares, which means that driving will still be cheaper and more prevalent in some areas of the region than commuting via mass transit. Congestion pricing will be unable to deter drivers when it is perceived to be cheaper to drive than to take mass transit.

On top of that, the additional costs will make mass transit less affordable for those who have no other options and raise the costs of doing business in the region well beyond the means of many in the region.

If you want to see the makings of an economic downturn in the region, this is it - you've got Wall Street teetering because of interest rate woes, the housing sector problems, and consumer confidence waning because of the housing issues. Combine those problems (Wall Street is the economic engine to which NYS and NYC are hitched) so if Wall Street goes South, the state and city revenues go South with them.

No one in Albany or New York City appears willing to deal cutting costs, and instead look to get bailed out by raising taxes, which only hits taxpayers even more - creating a cycle that drives more and more to seek less confiscatory environments. Reducing the tax base only adds to the tax burden of those remaining - see New Jersey's per capita state workforce in relation to population and you'll see that the state keeps adding jobs to the rolls despite a declining population, exascerbating an already bad economic picture to which Gov. Corzine looks at borrowing or raising taxes as the answer. Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Spitzer will be following suit before long.

And all the while, mass transit will continue to suffer along because no one wants to get the financial houses in order - those of the city, state, or the MTA.