There was a double dose of bad news for commuters on Monday evening.

There’s still no Metropolitan Transportation Authority bailout from Albany and the worsening economy has created yet another gap in the transit agency’s budget.

There’s no relief coming down the tracks for the MTA. Ridership is down. Income is down. Tax revenues are down. And that means commuters are going to be really down – slammed — yet again.

“The state of our finances are dire when your looking at a $621 million deficit,” MTA head Elliot Sander said. “They’re dire particularly on top of the cuts we’ve taken.”

You heard right. The MTA has a new deficit — $621 million this year, more than a $1 billion hole next year — and that means that even if the state Legislature does come up with a bailout to prevent the doomsday cuts and fare hikes another doomsday could be just months away.

“If the rescue from Albany does not occur or if it does not take into account these impacts then we are looking at fare increases and service reductions,” Sander said.

And as Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith prepares to leave Thursday night on a junket to Puerto Rico there was still no rescue deal, but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told CBS 2 HD if there is a bailout it would not — repeat not — include money for the latest deficit.

“You can’t change the playing field in the middle. The problem here is an issue of credibility on the MTA’s part,” Silver said. “We accepted the challenge. We’re going to meet the challenge and you cannot now change the terms.

If there’s more to meet I would suggest that the headquarters should be pared down significantly.”

The Legislature is under the gun to come up with a bailout plan because the doomsday budget goes into effect on May 31.

A private meeting between Senator Majority Leader Smith, Gov. David Paterson and Assembly Speaker Silver ended on Monday at approximately 6 p.m. There is still no agreement on an MTA bail-out, but sources tell WCBSTV that they have agreed to take the $1 taxi surcharge off the table after Silver said he would not pass it.

The Senate is also looking at the possibility of a “document tax,” which would charge people who buy/lease cars an additional fee of 1 percent of the cars values, with a maximum of $300. The Assembly, however, has not signed off on that.

In addition, both sides and the governor are now trying to work on language that would make the MTA more accountable. The Senate version of the bill would increase the size of the MTA board to 18, so the Senate and Assembly can each add one board member of their own. The Senate also wants line item veto of items in the Capital budget, and the Senate wants the state comptroller to be able to audit the MTA’s books.

(Source: WCBSTV)