The Commission on MTA Financing, which Gov. David Paterson convened to address a serious and growing mass transit funding shortfall, held its first public hearing Monday, and heard suggestions ranging from sales of city-owned bridges to hikes in payroll taxes, tolls and fares, greater state revenue contributions and improved operating efficiencies and financial transparency.

Dick Ravitch leads the Commission on MTA Financing (photo courtesy NY Observer).Former city transportation commissioner Luicius Riccio seemed to gain the most media attention when he suggested the MTA exercise the absolute and unilateral authority granted by its charter  to buy transit facilities and impose tolls. 

Calling his idea "congestion pricing light," Riccio said the MTA could buy the Williamsburg and Manhattan bridges from the city for $1 apiece, then impose tolls on them and use the hundreds of millions of dollars year he expects would be generated yearly to fund mass transit, the New York Daily News reported. No City Council or state Legislature approval would be required in this scenario, he said, thereby avoiding opposition that quashed Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan earlier this year, according to the New York Sun.

"The reason our task is difficult is that no one likes recommending charging anything to anybody," Richard Ravitch, the commission's chairman, told Streetsblog. "It's only when you compare it with the deterioration of the transportation system that you conclude you have to make nasty choices."