Hillary Clinton Doesn't Want Your Subway Fare to Go Up

On Friday afternoon, Senator Hillary Clinton announced proposed legislation which includes $237 million in new funding for New York City's mass transit system. The bulk of the cash will go toward the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in an effort to prevent future fare increases.

"One of the best ways to save money, help the environment, end our dependence on foreign oil and free our roads up is mass transit," Senator Clinton said during a press conference in the middle of Grand Central Station.

She stressed the need to alleviate congestion, which she said costs the country $68 billion per year, and highlighted the efforts of countries like France and China, whose investments in mass transit dwarf those of the United States.

"We are living off the investments of a prior time," she said. "We need help."

The legislation, called the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act, would provide $1.7 billion over the next two years to fund public transit systems across the country. It comes on the heels of record ridership numbers on New York's subways and buses, Amtrak's trains, and other mass transit across the country. According to the National Resources Defense Council, a nonprofit environmental organization, mass transit ridership nationwide was up 5.2 percent over last year.

Transportation officials, transit and environmental activists, and local politicians accompanied Senator Clinton at Friday's press conference.

Lee Sander, the M.T.A.'s executive director, enumerated the agency's financial woes, including a 166 percent increase in fuel costs, coupled with declining tax revenues.

But given that the M.T.A. spent $180 million more this year on fuel alone, how likely is it that the new funds will stave off another fare hike?

"It would do a lot," Mr. Sander said. "It's too early to tell. It would completely mitigate a far increase." Then he seemed to reconsider, concluding, "It can only help."

"It's hard to believe that we're turning people away from public transit when we've got $4 a gallon gas and the threat of global warming," said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city's transportation commissioner.

Senator Clinton said that the majority of the federal funding would go towards the M.T.A.'s operating costs, in an effort to lessen the agency's financial pressures. She called it "an infusion of cash in the short term," adding that long-term investment in national infrastructure would remain a concern.

"There's just a lot of good stuff going on," she added, alluding to the East Side access tunnel and other M.T.A. projects. "But we need a federal partner."

Last to speak was Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, whose district includes Grand Central. An avid Clinton supporter, Representative Maloney prefaced her remarks on transit with praise for the candidate's run for the presidency.

"New Yorkers are so proud of you, Hillary!" she said, as the crowd erupted in cheers (and a few boos). "Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton!"

The bill already passed in the House of Representatives last June. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.