Assemblyman Heastie: Bailout plan will
Saved the subway and bus fares
The MTA proposed sky-high fare hikes at a time when riders are already financially strapped. We prevented the 32 percent increase in fares—instead, commuters can expect a greatly reduced 10 percent increase.

We fund two years of capital projects, including vital transit and commuter rail maintenance and modernization projects, and do not add new tolls on bridges that are currently not tolled.
Shared the burden
The budget crisis facing the MTA is a regional problem—we needed to ensure that the burden to make our transit system whole was shared by everyone, not just riders. The compromise we achieved protects services and limits fare increases by instituting:

“The MTA’s plan to cut services and impose sky-high fare hikes was not acceptable. It would have been a burden for everyone—especially subway and bus riders. That’s why I voted for the MTA bailout plan—to keep our transit system affordable and reliable.”
Assemblyman
Carl E. Heastie
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“The Legislature and Governor Paterson are to be commended for taking action to avoid catastrophe and keep critical construction projects going,” Robert Yaro, president, Regional Plan Association, and co-chair, Empire State Transportation Alliance

“The MTA bailout is good news for transit riders. It will halve the proposed fare hike, shelve awful service cuts and provide funds for two years of transit rebuilding projects,” Gene Russianoff, staff attorney, New York State Public Interest Research Group Straphangers Campaign

"The inclusion of two years of capital funding is vitally important to transit riders and our regional economy and should not be underappreciated…” Kate Slevin, executive director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign
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Assemblyman
Carl E. Heastie
1351 E. Gun Hill Road
Bronx, NY 10469
718-654-6539
heastic@assembly.state.ny.us
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