The Assembly's concerns include the level of state funding for transit rebuilding, the possibility of further transit service cuts, continuance of an ambitious station rebuilding program and a desire to examine in detail the fairness of subsidies to various branches of the MTA. A letter from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to MTA Chair Virgil Conway last week complained that the MTA's plan contains the lowest level of state funding ever, and that the Governor does not intend to release state support for transit capital until 1999. The letter also called for a moratorium on service cuts during the life of the plan, for a vigorous and efficient effort to overcome the fiascoes of the last station rebuilding program, and for establishment of a commission on the fairness of subsidies within the MTA system. The MTA was sued by transit groups last year because November's fare increase hit city transit riders disproportionately hard compared to suburban rail commuters.

The language in Levy's veto letter echoes that used by the Senator in the Spring to object to an MTA bond issue. Levy said that the transit capital program should be established and agreed to at the same time that the state's highway capital program is finalized. Levy apparently has some unresolved issues with the content of the highway plan, which is slated to receive a financial boost under Governor Pataki's capital budget. As yet, we are unaware of what these issues are.

The vetoes will lead to more negotiations before a transit capital program can be adopted. Adding to the myriad issues to resolve before approval of a final plan is the MTA's need to make its MetroCard fare medium work and the agency's inclusion in its proposed plan of large labor cost savings. Fare discounts will cause some revenue loss and may also require additional service if fare and transfer discounts boost ridership. The MTA will look to labor for the savings to make these improvements happen, but the agency and the unions have traded tough talk in the newspapers in recent weeks.