NEW YORK, NY March 25, 2009 —The MTA's board gave its approval to a deficit-reducing budget that will mean a $2.50 bus and subway ride, a $6.50 Battery Tunnel and RFK bridge toll, and a $13 one-way charge to cross the Verrazano bridge. WNYC's has more.

In a series of three 12-1 votes, the full MTA board approved the hikes this morning among the steepest in the subway system's more than a 100-year history. The Authority also approved deep service cuts and layoffs, and says its five-year plan to upgrade and repair the system will soon come to a halt. But after the vote, authority chairman Lee Sander said there still may be time to change course if state senators approve a bailout package, and urged New Yorkers to lobby their legislators to get behind that plan.

A handful of state senators continue to block a plan to raise tolls on the East River bridges.