Free rides end for MTA board, families
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- June
- 25
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted today to give up their free rides on the buses and subways and across the agency’s bridges.Give props to The Daily News for exposing the perk a few weeks back, raising the eyebrows of state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The state’s official watchdog said the policy violated a law that said board members must serve without compensation.The board members gave up the lifetime passes to MTA buses, subways and trains — that includes Metro-North Railroad — as well as free EZ Passes for toll crossings. Their vote also rescinds the privileges from their family members and from former board members.The new policy does, however, allow current board members to ride free on official MTA business.One former board member, Warren Dolny, told the Associated Press he won’t give up his pass easily, and may even sue. But, Dolny’s resistence aside, the free rides seem to be coming to an end, although MTA Executive Director Elliot Sander disputed Cuomo’s charge that they had violated the law.Board Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger told the Associated Press that the issue had been a distraction.”It takes the focus off of real important issues facing the MTA, which is how are we going to do a better job for the 8 1/2 million people who use our services every day,” he told the AP. So Hemmerdinger may hope that getting the “distraction” out of the way will restore some good will for the board members. Perhaps it will. And that and two bucks will get them on the A-Train.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 2:41 pm by Ken Valenti.
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