"Well, I think the concept will come back. I don't know that it will work, because I don't know if people understand why the M.T.A., structurally, can never be profitable because it just doesn't raise the revenues relative to the services it provides," Paterson told John Gambling on WOR.

The proposal—pushed hard by Michael Bloomberg in 2008—died when it was never voted on in the State Assembly. Michael Daly this morning blamed Speaker Sheldon Silver for the M.T.A.'s current fiscal woes, and Silver earlier this week blamed Bloomberg for congestion in the city.

Paterson yesterday vowed to restore cuts to student Metrocards, the most controversial of the M.T.A.'s proposals to save money.