Using Transit ‘Stimulus’ To Avert Layoffs Gains Steam

REITERATING THE CASE: City officials including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio joined Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen (center) Feb. 4 at the Broad St. subway station in lower Manhattan, telling morning rush-hour riders that some service cuts could be avoided if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority used 10 percent of Federal stimulus money for operational expenses, which its Executive Director, Jay Walder, has refused to do. Local 100 Photo A proposal to use Federal stimulus money for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s operational budget in order to avert layoffs and service cuts is gaining popularity among board members.

Board member Doreen Frasca has urged the MTA to consider the idea, and Allen Cappelli told the Daily News last week that he was interested as well. MTA Chairman and CEO Jay Walder has rejected the concept, saying that using capital money for operational expenses proved detrimental to the system in the past, while Transport Workers Union Local 100 and the Straphangers Campaign point out that 10 percent of Federal stimulus money can be used for operational costs.

Other Systems Signing On

The labor-rider coalition, which also includes several City Council Members including Transportation Committee Chair James Vacca, also pointed out that several transit systems are doing just that, and most recently, Washington D.C.’s Metro system announced it would use $10 million of its stimulus funds to avert service cuts.

While Mr. Walder has been resolute in his opposition, Straphangers Campaign leader Gene Russianoff remained optimistic that he might change his mind before several bus routes and one subway line are eliminated and 700 New York City Transit workers are laid off in the spring.

“I think the combination of two board members saying positive things plus systems outside New York using it sends a powerful message,” he said. “I think we’ve got a shot and we’re going to push it as hard as we possibly can.”

Union officials and transit advocates claimed that there is currently $90 million available in Federal funds that could be used to ease the blow to riders and transit workers.

In addition to saying that shifting money from capital construction to day-to-day use would lead to a repeat of the problems of the 1970s and the deferred maintenance that resulted, Mr. Walder has preferred to address the agency’s fiscal woes by establishing more long-term state funding. However, state lawmakers have been relatively silent on the MTA’s proposed cuts for this year after passing a modified bail-out package last spring when the MTA announced similar service reductions.

“The MTA has an institutional funding problem in that the city and state are shirking their responsibilities to the organization, and a one-off stimulus fix does nothing to address those problems,” Benjamin Kabak said on his transit blog, Second Avenue Sagas. “An economic crisis should be the time for New York to establish a better approach toward funding transit.”