MTA board worried about state budget

Damian Newton over at the Streetsblog, writes about this week's MTA meeting, saying that despite new Measure R funds that will tackle specific projects in the county, the MTA remains gloomy about day-to-day transit operation because of fears that the state will take more tranist money to balance its budget. The MTA estimated that it lost $100 million in expected transit funding for this budget year because of the state's fiscal crisis. From the blog:

The Board's concerns with the state are less, "are we going to get the new funds we deserve" and more the "is Schwarzenegger going to rob transit to balance the budget...again..." variety. With the state budget crisis constantly looming, and the Governor's history of robbing funds "dedicated" to transit to balance the budget; the Board has decided to move cautiously on it's bus expansion plans so that if the governor robs transit operating subsidies...again...they will be able to cover the backlog without hiking fares. So, for now, the dreams of bus-only lanes running throughout the city have to be put on hold while we wait for the state to figure out their budget mess.

We'll be running more on local projects that will be affected by Measure R funds in a story this weekend.