MTA Board Remarks 121813
William Henderson
Good morning. The proposed budget that you will be voting on today is good news to riders who have faced uncertainty, service cuts, and large fare increases over the past four years. We are pleased that the revenues projected for the coming year are sufficient for operations and that some service enhancements are included in this budget. However, we need to recognize that the budgeted service enhancements are the result of a process of discussion over the first half of 2013 and a commitment that was made this summer.
I’m here today to say that we need to continue this process. While the agreed-upon service increases have restored some of the crippling cuts made in 2010, there remains service that has not been restored. On top of this, we are seeing an expansion in the use of transit as younger people more and more move away from private automobiles and new development occurs throughout the City and region. We need to provide for these needs, and we urge you to make an additional commitment to service enhancements in this budget.
Thank you.
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