An April 12 Straphangers Campaign/NYC Transit Riders Council letter to MTA Chair Peter Stangl requested postponement of the service cut hearings scheduled to start April 27, and a recall of the misleading information being distributed by NYC Transit. The letter cited section 1205(7) of New York's Public Authorities Law, which says posted notices on service changes are to "fairly and accurately convey the basic nature of such changes." The letter says "hearings under such circumstances (undisclosed service cuts) would show contempt for the riding public."

	Announced Cuts	Hidden Cuts
Subway	5 lines	11 lines (fewer trains per hour)
	(3 lines: no late-night service; 2 lines "restructured")	1995 reductions: $.8 million
		1996 reductions: $2.7 million
	1 station closed (Dean Street)
	Total 1995 reductions: $.38 million
	Total 1996 reductions: $1.5 million
	22 token booths closed
Bus	39 routes	61 routes (fewer buses per hour)
	(28 routes: fewer hours;	Total 1995 reductions: $2.3 million
	3 routes: eliminated;	Total 1996 reductions: $7.7 million
	8 routes: shortened)	35 routes (violate crowding guidelines)
	1995 total: $2.3 million	1995 total: $.7 million
	1996 total: $7.8 million	1996 total: $2.3 million
	Express buses eliminated
	(non-Staten Island routes)
	1995: $2.3 million
	1996: $7.8 million
TOTALS	1995: $8.2 million	1995: $7.5 million
	Hidden reductions are 45% of NYC Transit cuts in 1995
	1996: $27.1 million	1996: $24.8 million
	Hidden reductions are 47% of NYC Transit cuts in 1996
	($ figures do not include savings from token booth closures)

Meanwhile, NY Newsday called for a "transit summit" in a lengthy Sunday editorial. Arguing that NY State and City leaders must come together to find a way to fully fund a new multi-year MTA operating and capital investment plan, the paper called the downstate region's rapid rail system "invaluable" and warned against the economic folly of repeating the 1970s cycle of disinvestment. The piece called for Governor Pataki to lift his suspension of the MTA's bonding authority, and get the transit capital program moving again. It called on the legislature to renew the corporate franchise tax surcharge, scheduled to expire in November, as dedicated MTA revenue. NY Newsday also supported shifting more MTA bridge and tunnel revenue from the suburbs to the city and lifting Pataki's moratorium on commuter rail fare hikes. It also said the MTA should revise the timeline for implementing the Fare Deal monthly fare pass program, rather than to abandon it all together.