By JESSICA OTIS and JUDY RATTNER
With a symbolic act of pushing over a mock gasoline pump, MTA President and CEO Elliot Sander and LIRR President Helena Williams were joined by Rockville Centre Mayor Mary Bossart, Deputy Mayor Chuck Joyce and Trustee Dave Krasula in an effort to encourage the use of public transportation. After extolling the benefits of riding trains and buses, Sander found himself responding to a barrage of questions from reporters about recent comments by MTA Vice Chairman David Mack about the free lifetime passes that MTA board members have long enjoyed, and about their use of mass transit.
Mack had made headlines with comments from which, by week's end, he was distancing himself. He was heavily criticized for admitting that he rides commuter trains as few as 10 times a year, that he prefers the convenience of driving his car, and that the only reason he uses mass transit is because it is free for him.
His comments appeared to contradict the message that Sander and company were promoting at the train station. In responding to the relentless questions about the "Mack flap," Sander chose his words carefully, saying that while he "respectfully disagreed" with Mack, he would not call for his resignation from the MTA board. Sander also speculated that Mack was speaking out of "anger and frustration," and that he could understand the reasons for his comments, because the use of the free-transit privilege had been somewhat misconstrued by the press.
But state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo was not as philosophical about eliminating the MTA's "freebies," threatening to take legal action to force board members to give them up if they do not do so voluntarily at their next meeting.
Reporters went on to bombard Sander with questions about ticket prices. Fares are now as high as $19.50 for a single round-trip peak ticket from Rockville Centre to Penn Station, after a steep increase in March 2007. Sander said he hopes the MTA will not have to resort to another round of fare increases next year, but with the agency experiencing a $6 million deficit due to rising fuel costs and the declining revenues of its real estate holdings, passengers may have to make up the shortfall.
The MTA reportedly has plans to cut back on subway station maintenance and new projects, but even those measures might not be enough to prevent another round of fare increases. As Sander urged commuters to put their disposable income back into their wallets by riding mass transit, listeners were left to wonder whether, amid the reports of "freebies" and still more price increases, commuters would be persuaded to do so.
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