Activism for every attention span

In this series
• The MTA sucks
• Overdevelopment is killing your neighborhood
• People are hungry, and food is being wasted
• The air is deadly
• You’re an expendable drone
• Homelessness
• New York’s marriage—and divorce—laws are lame
• The waterways are polluted
• Affordable housing doesn’t exist

The MTA sucks

Your train never seems to be running on time (if it’s running), you spend rush hours pressed up against skeevy armpits, and the stations are filthy, hot and occasionally scented with human poop. And the MTA still wants to raise the fare! “Money is a major problem for the MTA,” explains Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign. “There’s a $500 million to $700 million hole in the 2009 budget because of massive debt and tanking real-estate taxes.” Yeah, yeah, whatever—my heart is bleeding. What can I actually do about the never-ending hikes?

You don’t have to be Abbie Hoffman to make sure your company uses the TransitChek program, in which you can put aside up to $115 pretaxes to pay for your commute. It essentially brings the cost of a 30-day unlimited MetroCard down by a third or a half, depending on your base salary (for info, visit transitcenter.com). Second, fill out those rider report cards the MTA offers. Third, praise or profane the powers that be in the Straphangers Campaign Rider Diaries, or write a letter to the MTA directly (do both at straphangers.org).

MTA board and committee meetings are open to the public, so if you’ve got the patience, those transit stiffs are your captive audience. You should arrive about 30 minutes ahead of time to register, and you must limit your reasoned argument to 120 seconds, but at least you can voice your opinions to someone other than the drunk guy lolling next to you on the B. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for the mornings of Monday 21 and Wednesday 23 at the MTA Headquarters (347 Madison Ave between 44th and 45th Sts, fifth-floor board room; mta.info/mta/news/calendar.htm). The Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee (pcac.org) is another rider-advocacy organization, despite being funded by the MTA. The group’s various councils meet monthly and the whole committee meets four times a year. All of these powwows, held at lunchtime in midtown, are open to the masses.

“This is like volunteering on steroids, but there are three open volunteer positions on the NYC Transit Riders Council, which is the official advisory body to the MTA,” says Bill Henderson, executive director of PCAC. “Council members are appointed by the public advocate and the mayor.” For consideration, contact Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum’s office and make your case (212-669-7200).

—Jaime Jordan

NEXT: "Overdevelopment is killing your neighborhood" »

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