It's rare to hear about an industry that's hiring these days. But today is not one of these days: The MTA is currently hiring bus drivers. It seems the agency instituted a hiring freeze when it looked like the doomsday budget cuts would go into effect. They didn't, of course, which means the MTA is now looking to fill as many as 230 positions. If you worked at Lehman Brothers or Condé Nast until recently, it's unlikely that a bus driver gig is going to meet your salary expectations. (And judging by this and this, it can be a lot more dangerous, too.) But, hey, it's better than taking your chances with a sandwich board, no? [Urbanite]

The big subway and bus fare increase won't be so big, after all. The board of the MTA voted today to rescind the package of fare increases and service reductions adopted in March. When fares go up, which will happen on June 28, you'll be paying $2.25 to take advantage of New York's sterling public transportation system, instead of $2.50. [NYT]

The MTA has revealed the service cuts that will take place this summer unless someone does something about the agency's $1.2 billion budget gap. Oh, and the new fare of $2.50 takes effect May 31, just in case you want to start saving your quarters now. [NYDN]

Get your extra quarters ready: The MTA board voted 12 to 1 this morning in favor of raising subway and bus fares from $2 to $2.50 per ride, even though the agency also plans to carry out a round of service cuts and shut down certain bus routes and extend the length of wait time between trains. On the bright side, if you were one of the unfortunate souls to lose your job this week, this news shouldn't faze you much, since you won't have to worry about commuting from now on. [NYDN]

A deranged straphanger attempted to assault the MTA's chief executive with a shoe at a hearing today. Thankfully police apprehended the man and seized his deadly Oxfords.

A disgruntled Amtrak employee tried to recreate the magical moments in Baghdad over the weekend at today's MTA board meeting: He attempted to pull off his shoe and wing it at MTA boss Elliot Sander. The man's footwear never made it airborne—the MTA chief seems to have better security than the president—but we'll give him points for trying. [ABC7 via Curbed]

As if it wasn't bad enough the MTA is thinking about raising fares and experimenting with the idea of removing the seats (so as to more efficiently pack people into the cars), now it appears the agency has come to the conclusion that we don't need windows either. Because, really, what better way is there to stimulate demand for a cool, refreshing beverage than to pack lots of people into an windowless aluminum canister? [Gothamist]

For the second time in three months, Mayor Bloomberg has ordered city agencies to cut back on spending. Just how is the already-strapped city bureaucracy going to do that? Here's your answer (or one of them, at least): The MTA is planning to test out seat-less subway cars, so more people can crowd into trains after the agency cuts back on service. [NYT, WCBS]

With recent MTA budget cuts and fare increases across the board to come next year, soon riding the New York City subway will be a privilege reserved for the few that can afford it. Somewhere along the way, the city's travelers will transfer from whatever line they're riding on to an express train as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It lies between the pit of man's fear and the summit of his knowledge. Via the seminal Tofutti Break, those passengers will be riding the subway known as The Douchebag Express. Click here to ride it.

The board of the MTA will meet today to unveil a set of cutbacks designed to address next year's estimated $1.2 billion budget shortfall. What can you look forward to? Among other things, the end of the W and Z lines, 1,500 fewer MTA employees, and longer gaps between trains at midday and between two and five in the morning. [NYDN, NYT]

You thought the only news these days was depressing? Not necessarily! The Port Authority reports traffic at the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels dropped 6.4 percent in October, compared with last year, and traffic fell 4.4 percent at the bridges between New Jersey and Staten Island. Much of the decline, of course, can be explained by the thousands of people who have lost their jobs in financial services in recent months. But if you're looking for cheery news to brighten your day, you can probably assume that some percentage of the dropoff consists of oiled-up dudes from New Jersey or Staten Island who have been having second thoughts about cruising around Manhattan in a white Hummer limo with neon trim on Friday nights. And in these tough times you've got to take the positive news anywhere you can get it.

One more thing you can look forward to next year as the economy continues to suffer and companies continue to lay off employees: a big price increase for city subways and buses. The Daily News reports that the MTA may be forced to raise fares to $3 as it grapples with a $600 million budget shortfall. [NYDN]

The Straphangers Campaign report card is out. You know, that group led by Gene Russianoff that really only surfaces in the news when it issues its annual "State of the Subways" report? Anyway, L riders will be happy to hear they ride the best line in the city. If you take the W to work, you may want to think about moving. Or taking a job that comes with car service. [NYP]

Business can't be going well for Betty Beauty, the line of pubic hair dye created by Nancy Jarecki, the socialite wife of Moviephone creator Andrew Jarecki. Last year, Jarecki's company earned fawning coverage from Vanity Fair and was advertising in some of the most upscale salons in town. Now Betty Beauty is advertising inside subway cars, right alongside those ubiquitous ads for Dr. Zizmor and Spanish-speaking personal injury attorneys. Jarecki says her company is paying $10,000 for 50 underground ads featuring euphemistic taglines and no mention of what the product is actually used for. So why the new marketing approach? You can blame the tough economy (pink pubic hair dye is always to first to go!) or the omnipresent Brazilian waxing trend (does anyone have any public hair left to dye?). But you can blame Nancy herself when that creepy guy on the 6 starts asking whether your carpet matches the drapes.

Attached is a 100% real screengrab of recent transactions from your day editor's checking account. The two debits here are from an MTA New York City transit MetroCard vending machine. Actually two card machines, because the first one didn't work. And neither did the second one! There were no posted notices anywhere, but apparently it's a system-wide outage—no MTA kiosk can process any debit or credit card transactions, as a Service Alert that was just posted online this morning kind of hints at. (And now that service alert is gone!) But—as you can see—you will still be charged for trying. Ha ha ha. The MTA claims accounts will be credited after two business days, but hey, sucks to be you if you end up with an overdraft charge after you try two or three machines, right?

A day after vowing to defend the perks provided to MTA board members, real estate magnate David Mack has done a 180 and now says he'll support plans to end the free EZPasses and trips on buses and subways. David: Your first trip across the Triborough is on us! [Daily News]

More controversy at the MTA! The vice chair of the transporation agency, David Mack—Long Island real estate magnate, demi-billionaire, brother of Bill Mack—plans to challenge the agency's decision to take away his perks, namely the six E-ZPass tags that allow him to avoid paying for tolls or paying for the bus, subway or LIRR. In related MTA news, just in case you think that overseeing New York's hot, smelly subway system must be a lousy job, well, not so much. It turns out MTA chief Elliot Sander makes $350K a year and he worked out a bonus, too, even though the agency is talking about fare increases and service reductions.

Two days after the Daily News revealed that ultra-loaded MTA board members are given free E-ZPasses, and one day after AG Andrew Cuomo threatened to sue the agency over the practice, the MTA has caved. Apparently it decided that saving some rich dudes a few hundred bucks annually wasn't worth a PR nightmare and a trip to court. Go figure.

Next time you see former MTA chair Peter Kalikow zipping around town in one of his four dozen Ferraris, take pride in the fact that little old you made his ride that much more pleasurable: It turns out that Kalikow and the other real estate fat cats who've served on the MTA's board are gifted taxpayer-funded E-ZPasses for life. Kalikow, whose outrageously huge Ferrari fleet includes custom-made numbers like the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, has eight freebie E-ZPasses alone; MTA vice chair David Mack, another real estate bigshot, isn't doing too bad for himself either with six. How to know which luxury vehicles to glare at to express your distaste for this policy? The gratis E-ZPasses are a limited-edition orange as opposed to the standard-issue white.

Washington D.C.'s transit authority thinks they're so much better than NYC, taking a cheap shot at our subway rats and showing a picture of a rat asking, "You gonna eat that?" City Room reports on the prissy D.C. Metro ads urging passengers not to eat or drink on the train: "Unlike some subway systems (which will remain nameless), you don't see rats the size of house cats roaming the Metro. Why not? Because we are so strict about eating and drinking in the system. So help us keep the critters away. Please don't eat or drink on the Metro." Hey, youse try cramming 8 million people into a city and see if you can do any better! [City Room]