MTA Strips Board Members of Toll, Rail Perks

Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members have voted to give up their free rides through the agency's tolls and transit system. The perk has drawn fire amid a financial crunch at the nation's largest mass-transportation agency.

Board members agreed today to use the decades-old privilege only for official business. Their relatives and former members will lose the perk completely.

The agency planned the change last month, under pressure from the state Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo. State law says the unpaid board members serve "without salary or other compensation."

Mr. Cuomo said the subway and MTA commuter rail passes — plus free E-ZPass tags that automatically pay tolls on the agency's nine bridges and tunnels — counted as compensation.