An important piece of context, which might not be immediately apparent from this discussion, is that a vast majority of people in and around New York City dislike and distrust the MTA (NYC's public transit organization) to an extreme extent[3][4]. People widely view the MTA as ineffective and its spending as suspect. The MTA has more than doubled fares in recent years[1][2], yet has nothing to show for it.<p>So, when a policy proposal seeks to send more money to the MTA, people will naturally be skeptical. If all the money so far hasn't made a difference, and NYC public transit is still on a bad trajectory, how can, and indeed why should, we trust giving the MTA even more money yet again?<p>In particular, (from the article) the MTA claims that the money will fund the 2nd Avenue line extension. Another important piece of context is that the 2nd Avenue line extension has had a terrible track record. It's been start-and-stop for many years. Earlier phases have come in behind schedule, over cost, and covered less distance than originally promised[5][6].<p>To avoid giving the wrong idea, I should emphasize that I am, in a vacuum, a big proponent of public transit. I think that public transit benefits everyone, and brings so much value above and beyond what it costs. Plenty of cities, internationally, demonstrate this time again, particularly in much of Europe and East Asia, and even some domestically in the US. NYC just isn't one of them. I'm also not upset at the MTA, merely disappointed.<p>I have observed elsewhere that it is extremely difficult to bootstrap competence where none currently exists, previously in the context of software engineering. This is extremely true for the MTA, also.<p>[1]: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares#Fare_history" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_transit_fares#Fa...</a>
[2]: The new OMNY "tap to pay" system is also less generous with its weekly discounts than the previously weekly MetroCard discounts. In practice, that's a further price hike for weekly commuters, above and beyond what the single ticket list price captures.
[3]: <a href="https://pix11.com/news/transit/new-york-city-rider-survey-shows-room-for-improvement-in-transit/" rel="nofollow">https://pix11.com/news/transit/new-york-city-rider-survey-sh...</a>
[4]: <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/transit/2021/06/08/mta-nyc-transit-ny1-ipsos-poll-how-many-new-yorkers-say-they-are-comfortable-riding-mass-transit" rel="nofollow">https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/transit/2021/06/08/mta-nyc-...</a>
[5]: <a href="https://ny1.com/nyc/manhattan/2nd-ave-subway/2016/12/26/-a-second-on-first---a-deeper-look-at-a-subway-line-nearly-a-century-in-the-making" rel="nofollow">https://ny1.com/nyc/manhattan/2nd-ave-subway/2016/12/26/-a-s...</a>
[6]: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/nyregion/second-avenue-subway-harlem.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/nyregion/second-avenue-su...</a>