It's That Time of Year Again

Ah, the end of December.

Christmas trees, Menorahs, figuring out New Years plans (if anyone has anything to do, by the way, please feel free to invite me because I don't have shit to do) and.....that's right, you guessed it! The MTA getting a big, fat hard-on, bending New York City public transportation users right over and fucking them. No vaseline, either.

Every year this happens.

Usually, they are upping the fares. I suppose this year, in a nod to the financial pain of New Yorkers due to The Great Recession, they're merely cutting services - although a previously scheduled 7.5% increase will take place in June

The New York Times reports, "The cuts would create more crowding on subways and buses, reduce frequency during weekends, late nights and weekday afternoons, and wholly eliminate two minor subway lines, the W and the Z. Service on dozens of bus lines would be reduced or ended, and disabled riders would find it more difficult to get around."

Additionally, the Metropolitan Grinch Authority plans to cut the free fares received by over 500,000 students.

These cuts don't affect me all that much, as I ride the PATH rather than NYC subways but, seriously, what the fuck?

It's like clockwork, every year the MTA is blindsided by a budget shortfall and either increases fares or decreases service or both. How is that possible?

Also, how does the media not expose this? From the same times report, "Nearly every bus, subway and commuter rail rider in New York stands to be affected by a punishing slate of service cuts that was approved on Wednesday by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is struggling to fill a sudden financial shortfall of more than $400 million."

Sudden? Really?

Merriam-Webster defines sudden as:

• 1 a : happening or coming unexpectedly b : changing angle or character all at once
• 2 : marked by or manifesting abruptness or haste
• 3 : made or brought about in a short time

This is about as sudden as Saturday Night Live coming on at 11:30 tonight or the five o'clock news unexpectedly popping on the TV screen at five o'clock, or it being hot in July.

How can the MTA claim to be broke and claim they never saw it coming each and every year?

I mean, is it just run by wildly incompetent people or are they just incredibly corrupt? It has to be one of the two, right?

The MTA board seems to always blame the state but I feel like the details are always mad fuzzy. And why would the state run NYC transportation?

What am I missing because my conclusion is that it's all just a big racket and the MTA is essentially a sixth crime family in NYC that everyone, including newspapers who are clearly on the payroll, pretends is a legitimate public benefit corporation.