MTA fare hikes 25% in the recession

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昨天沸揚許久的紐約大都會運輸局 MTA通過末日預算(Doomsday Budget)，確定五月底開始全面漲價25%，使得紐約的公車或地鐵單程票價由2元變成2.5元，我們所使用最划算的無限次月票(Unlimited)也由81元調漲至103元了。
如果漲價是為了改善運輸系統及提高服務品質，那還可以勉強接受，但為了彌補12億元的赤字，就如丟錢到黑洞中，讓紐約人的生活在經濟旱災中更加辛苦。難怪同事說 Service system is a poison.
原本已經夠多流浪漢和失業的街頭賣藝者在地鐵乞討，這樣的漲價讓紐約市民不悅，乞討者也更難討生活了。前幾天在中央車站的地鐵看到一個穿著整齊西裝的黑人乞丐用四個看板敘述他的故事---之前因為事故導致腦殘，奇蹟式的被醫治了還上了報紙，Now, I need another miracle-A JOB!

http://www.globest.com/news/1375_1375/newyork/177696-1.html
"NEW YORK CITY-Unless Albany acts before May 31, the eight million New Yorkers who ride public transit each day will be served up another dose of economic reality, thanks to a doomsday budget vote by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday. "

Yesterday, I read an article about the disasters/catastrophes happened in recent years,
nowadays the global economics drought/recession is in the same situation.

1. Kobe earthquake.(日本神戶) – January 17^th 1995. 6,300 people killed and $140 billon in damages.

2. Sampoong department store(三豐百貨) in Korea collapse. June 29^th 1995. 501 people killed. 937 injured.

3. IMF crisis.(東南亞金融風暴) – December 1997. Overcame the shortage of foreign currency by receiving support from the IMF.

4. Kosovo war(科索沃). March 24~June 25^th 1999. 7,500 Kosovo citizens and civilians killed.

5. Taiwan earthquake.(南投集集) – September 21^st 1999. 2,193 killed.

6. Major flooding in Venezuela (委內瑞拉)in South America. – December 1999. Killed 30,000 people.

7. France winter storm. December 1999. (Toward the end of Christmas in 1999, 2 powerful winter storms ravaged Europe. The storm caused widespread damage in France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy. It is considered the worst storm in the past 50 years.)

8. 9.11 Terror attack U.S.A. – September 11^th 2001.

9. SARS epidemic. Occurred between November 2002 to July 2003. 8096 people contracted SARS and 774 people died.

10. Tsunami that devastated Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Maldives,… Occurred on December 26^th 2004 and killed 300,000 people and caused 5 million people to be homeless.

11. Bar fire in Zhongshan(深圳) China. A fire that occurred in a bar in 2005 that killed 320 people

12. Cyclone in Myanmar(緬甸). May 2^nd 2008. 138,000 killed and more than a million people made homeless.

13. Earthquake in Shichun China.(四川) – Occurred on May 12^th 2008 and killed over 70,000 people, 18,000 people missing, 373,000 people injured, and 5 million people left homeless.