Transit advocates slammed the MTA on Monday for announcing there would be only one public hearing in New York City in November on the agency’s plans to cut transit service and raise fares and tolls for NYC MetroCard users, express bus and commuter rail riders and bridge and tunnel motorists. Hearing would also take place in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island. "I think it shows contempt for the riders," Straphangers Campaign attorney Gene Russianoff told the Daily News. Straphangers has written to the MTA requesting that a hearing be held in each borough of the city.

News reports said the MTA will be held November 8^th, 9^th and 10^th, though the agency has not yet placed notices for the meetings on its web site.

Elected officials also criticized the plan. Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, whose constituents face 50% hikes in express bus fares, said he was hopeful Staten Island would win a hearing. Mayor Bloomberg continued to send signals that he would be more active in the fare battle this time around. He said the MTA had not made its case for higher fares, but that if there are ground for them, hearings should be held around the city. When the MTA raised fares in 2003, the mayor was largely silent or else took a position that amounted to "sometimes prices go up."

Editorial boards at city dailies have also denounced the slim hearing schedule. The Daily News urged MTA leaders to fight harder in Albany and slammed the MTA board’s cavalier attitude about public hearings.

MTA chair Peter Kalikow said a full set of hearings is unnecessary because base subway and bus fares will not rise, and that hearings are costly.

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