Yesterday, the MTA officially approved the doomsday scenario of service cuts and fare hikes after lawmakers in Albany failed to pass a rescue plan.

What's worse, our leaders had the opportunity to pass a plan like the Ravitch Commission recommended and Governor Paterson and Assembly Speaker Silver endorsed, to fully and fairly fund our transit system, with contributions from everyone who benefits.

But instead of supporting a sustainable plan to fund transit for the long haul, a handful of state senators let down the majority of their own constituents and 8 million transit riders just to avoid a $2 bridge toll for relatively few.

Tell them that New Yorkers deserve better than the drastic system-wide service cuts and 23% fare hikes of the MTA doomsday plan!

Without a new plan, fares will skyrocket and 35 bus routes will be eliminated, along with the W and Z subway lines. Crowding will get worse. Evening and weekend service will be slashed. Our economy, our environment, and our region's future will all be put at risk.

According to The New York Times, MTA board members called the doomsday plan "a disaster but said they could no longer wait for lawmakers in Albany to rescue them."

This is truly the eleventh hour. Complacency in Albany means devastation for transit riders and for New York's economy and environment as a whole.

Tell Albany this isn't over – you will be affected every day by the doomsday plan!

New York can't allow a minority of special interests to hijack the transit system and prevent passage of a fair, sustainable plan that calls on all sectors – including drivers, businesses, and transit riders – to contribute. Unless Albany acts now, as of June 1, you and I can expect a 23% hike on subway and bus fares – to $103 for a monthly pass – along with severe service cuts system-wide. And no long term plan means putting projects at risk, along with the jobs and economic stimulus they provide.

There's too much riding on New York's transit network to allow the MTA doomsday to happen. Tell Albany it's past midnight, and we need action now on a plan to keep New York moving.