NYC MTA may reduce services, raise fares

New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) may reduce bus, subway and commuter train service in order to help close a projected $663 million budget gap, and raise fares by 50 cents, a spokesman said, reported the Associated Press. "The only things that they have been mandated not to touch are items related to safety and keeping the system in a state of good repair," MTA spokesman Tom Kelly was quoted as saying in Friday editions of the Daily News. "The goal is to streamline and trim as much internally as possible." After making some initial cuts, MTA division heads were recently told further reductions would be needed, said the AP. In addition to the cuts in service, MTA officials are also considering raising bus and subway fares to $2 from $1.50, where they have remained since November 1995, said the news service.