Riverdale riders hope MTA will avert doomsday

Commuters watch a train speed past as they stand on the platform at The Riverdale Metro-North station on the morning of March 26. Photo by Karsten Moran

Two bus lines in the area could cease running, another Riverdale line may no longer run at night, and the base subway and Access-a-Ride fare could increase to $2.50.

By N. Clark Judd

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has decided to set its financial house in order by cutting service in areas like Riverdale and Kingsbridge.

In a vote held last week, the MTA decided to institute a series of fare hikes and service cuts throughout the subway, bus, Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road systems. These changes will be phased-in between May and July.

The vote delivered on a promise MTA officials made earlier last month to institute a so-called “doomsday” budget if the state Legislature and Gov. David Paterson could not agree on a program that would increase revenue for the public benefit corporation.

Lawmakers say they hope to avert doomsday before it dawns as part of the budget that should be headed to Gov. Paterson’s desk at the end of this week.

In the meantime, Northwest Bronx residents face the possibility that two bus lines in the area will cease running, another line through Riverdale will no longer run at night, and the base subway and Access-a-Ride fare will increase to $2.50, along with other service cuts and fare increases.

Depending on who is talking, the MTA’s dire fiscal straits stem from either years of under funding or years of fiscal mismanagement.

Either way, some Riverdale commuters say, the area’s middle class is paying for the mistakes of others.

“They should find other ways, because New Yorkers, we’re being taxed right and left,” said Luis Javier, commuting to midtown from Riverdale on Tuesday morning.

“I don’t think it’s fair, especially for poor people,” said Diurka Diaz, a researcher at Columbia University also headed southbound on the 1 train. “Money has been misused.”

She later added, “It’s not fair that the middle class has to pay for this.”

MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger and the three state lawmakers holding out for a deal that suits them — including two Bronx representatives one of whom, Pedro Espada Jr., serves parts of Fieldston, Riverdale and Kingsbridge — mostly disagree over whether or not there should be tolls on East and Harlem River bridges as part of any deal to generate funding for the MTA.

In a statement e-mailed last week, Mr. Espada showed no signs of budging from his position.

“I remain optimistic that we will have a plan in short order to deal with the MTA’s operating subsidies and the capital plan,” he said. “But I remain steadfast that the MTA must present an actual capital plan to the state Legislature before the Senate will approve any revenue stream for such a plan.”

New York City Transit fare increases will go into effect May 31. In addition to the base fare increase to $2.50, the cost of a 30-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard will grow to $103. And there will be other increases.

The Bx20 bus, which runs from West 246th Street in Riverdale to West 204th Street in Inwood, will cease running altogether; the Bx10 bus, which runs from the city line in Riverdale to Norwood, will cease running overnight. Bus service cuts will go into effect this summer.

Effective June 1, Metro-North fares will go up by as much as 29 percent for all ticket types to and from Manhattan. Hudson Rail Link prices could increase by as much as $1.

Effective July 11, The Henry Hudson Bridge toll will become $3.50 cash or $2.41 for E-ZPass holders.

This is part of the April 2, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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