The cash-strapped agency that runs New York City subways and buses is considering a proposal to end the more than 60-year-old practice of giving free rides for schoolchildren, a move that could cost half a million students nearly $1,000 per year in transportation fees.

Officials running the nation's largest mass transit system voted Wednesday to impose steep fare hikes and painful service cuts to close a $1.2 billion budget gap.

Mass transit officials on Wednesday approved a "doomsday" budget that would rely on fair hikes and service cuts, with a message to the state and federal governments: Help!

Most city residents and suburban commuters will pay a little more to use New York's trains, buses, bridges and tunnels under fare hikes approved Wednesday, angering advocates who complained that virtually the only people getting a break are tourists.