As subway lines and local buses drive ahead with fare hikes and service cuts, one Columbia alumnus is trying to map the city's transit future. Last fall, Governor David Paterson, CC '77, called upon former Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Richard Ravitch, CC '55, to head a commission to investigate the MTA's finances. In this post, Ravitch was responsible for proposing measures that would reduce the MTA's need to cut services and raise public transit prices—a move now slated for May 31. Recalling his time on campus, Ravitch said, "I had an extraordinary education that had an enormous influence on my life and my political views. I was studying during Columbia's heyday." Yet Ravitch did not participate in typical student life. He transferred to Columbia before his sophomore year and never lived in the dorms. Still, he said he made the most of the University's academic opportunities, studying with writer Lionel Trilling and historian Richard Hofstadter. Three years after graduation, he earned a degree from Yale Law School. Ravitch, who ran for mayor of New York in 1989 but lost after receiving only 5 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, said the experience did not dampen his interest in politics, and that he still strives to embody what he calls Columbia's ethos, the ultimate importance of public service. He served as a New York delegate for President Barack Obama, CC '83, in the 2008 primary elections. "There is nothing quite as satisfying as using talents, skills, energy to help other people," he said. Now a principal at the Upper East Side law firm Ravitch, Rice and Company, Ravitch said he has continued to provide counsel to the agency since his four-year tenure as chairman ended in 1983. While his reputation helped his recommendations garner strong support from city Democrats and transit advocates (Ravitch guided the MTA through serious financial and structural troubles in the late 1970s), his new plan for city transit has not been implemented. The budget the MTA board passed last month called for a 23 percent increase in fare and toll revenue, while the Ravitch plan would involve only an 8 percent increase. Much of the difference would be made up by state funding, which the legislature has not approved. "We support the Ravitch plan as a way to divide revenue," MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan said. But without state assistance, "we have no choice but to balance the budget the only way we can, with service cuts and fare increases." Donovan had high praise for Ravitch himself, calling him "the driving force between the MTA system in the early 1980s, when the system was on the brink of collapse." "He has an enduring legacy around here," Donovan said. Ravitch dismissed direct comparisons between the MTA's current problems and those he addressed as chairman. "The physical integrity of the MTA was a major problem in 1979," he said. "There were fires in stations, the trains were falling apart, and it required billions and billions of dollars. The legislature got it done." But the legislature has not acted as decisively this time around. While Paterson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and the majority of the State Assembly support the Ravitch plan, an MTA rescue package has stalled in the State Senate, as some senators object to the proposed rise in toll costs and payroll tax. "The only proposal we consider off the table is the toll increases and the change in ownership of bridges from New York City to the MTA, which Ravitch supports," said Austin Shafran, a spokesperson for State Senate majority leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens). It would be nearly impossible for the plan to pass the Senate with the Democratic leadership opposed to this key aspect. On the Republican side, "We are opposed to the job-killing payroll tax that is a component of the Ravitch plan," said Scott Reif, a spokesperson for Senate minority leader Dean Skelos (R-Long Island). "Skelos has met with Ravitch and we are having a dialogue with the Democrats."