Transit riders may have experienced deja vu when the MTA last week approved a package of service cuts, as nearly identical cuts were first proposed in the beginning of this rollercoaster year. NY1's Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

As 2009 began, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was contemplating a so-called "doomsday plan," with 23-percent fare hikes and massive service cuts, including the elimination of the W and Z subway lines.

At a public hearing, then-MTA chair Dale Hemmerdinger was shouted down while addressing the audience.

"We need the money from somewhere. We can't borrow it any more, we can't -- you know, we listened to you; it would be nice if you gave us the courtesy to listen to us," said Hemmerdinger to shouting crowds.

Former MTA chairman Richard Ravitch proposed an alternative rescue plan that included tolls on the free East River bridges, but the State Senate blocked that proposal. The MTA approved fare hikes and service cuts in March, but before the changes took effect, Albany came through with a last-minute bailout that did not include bridge tolls and imposed a new payroll tax and a new 50-cent taxi surcharge.

So the MTA implemented a much smaller fare hike in June, raising the base fare from $2 to $2.25.

The process culminated in the ouster of MTA head Elliot "Lee" Sander, who resigned after Governor David Paterson called for a "widespread cleanup and cleanout of the MTA [to get it] working in an effective way."

Sander's replacement, Jay Walder, seen right, was a former top transit executive in London. Walder talked of increasing bus service and installing more countdown clocks like those on L train platforms.

Yet soon Walder faced his own crisis. When the state slashed MTA funding in December and the payroll tax yields less revenue than expected, the MTA again proposed service cuts, including the elimination of student discounts.

"We need to permanently reduce the cost of what we're doing. In short, we need to take the place apart," said Walder.

On the labor front, the MTA began phasing out roving station agents and an arbitrator awarded transit workers 11 percent raises over three years.

The MTA unsuccessfully sought to have the award overturned, drawing protests from Transit Workers' Union Local 100. In turn, TWU elected track worker John Samuelsen to replace President Roger Toussaint.

The year did have its highlights for the troubled agency. In March Governor David Paterson inaugurates the brand-new South Ferry station, seen left. A new Metro-North station also opened at Yankee Stadium and tunneling begins on the new 7 line extension. Plans for the Fulton Street Transit Center were revived thanks to the federal stimulus.

Officials began testing bus countdown clocks on 34th Street, but only after an earlier attempt with a different vendor failed.

On the downside, plans to wire subway stations for cell phones were put on the shelf this year. Finally, the expected completion date for the Second Avenue Subway was pushed back yet again to December 2016.