Whats Next for the MTA?
In the face of Albany’s inaction, we jokingly suggested that a telethon might be the MTA’s next best option. For the last two weeks, T.A. staff and volunteers have been advocating for transit in Albany, on the internet and live from Union Square. We generated more than 1,000 letters, 500 phone calls and dozens of sit downs with decision makers, but in the end, self-interest and political inertia won the day. Despite the best efforts of T.A., scores of NYC’s top advocacy organizations and StreetBeat readers like you, Senate Democrats were unwilling to work together to pass any variation of an MTA bailout plan. At this point, it is clear that a bipartisan coalition, embracing upstate Republicans with transit-manufacturing concerns and MTA-region Democrats, who understand that low fares are in their constituents’ interest, is the only way forward. In the coming days, we’ll be looking beyond the MTA-region delegation to forge new alliances with non-traditional transit supporters and bring
