Just say it robs Peter (motor vehicle drivers)
to pay Paul (the wasteful, extravagent, corrupt MTA that is run so poorly that legitimate revenue (train and subway fares) has not been able to pay for the system for decades, requiring additional billions from taxpayers, which has only encourged the MTA to forget about being run well - the politicians will keep robbing the taxpayers to subsidize it).
Over a half-century of government ownership and nothing good ever came out of it. Said municipal and state government(s) forced the formerly private operators into an artificially low fare (5¢ until 1948, then 10¢ until 1953 when it went up to 15¢) that could not be sustained.
Hochul did this because funding city employee pensions is getting harder to do.
“requiring additional billions from taxpayers”
Ever since the ‘60s, they’ve had the TBTA bridge and tunnel gold mine. Federal aid is peanuts compard to the tolls on motorists.