The MTA is holding its only public budget hearing in Manhattan today, including discussions of proposed service cuts. What would you want to say to the MTA?

The meeting, one of nine held across the greater New York City area, will take place at 6 p.m. at Chelsea's Fashion Institute of Technology, inside the Haft Auditorium on Seventh Avenue at 27th Street.

At issue is the MTA's doomsday budget, which attempts to solve the transit agency's $750 million shortfall by slashing services and discontinuing free MetroCards for New York City school students.

Both Streetsblog and Second Ave. Sagas have taken issue with the city's complaints over losing student MetroCards, saying that the city is getting a great deal from the MTA and should be willing to pony up more cash.

Because the truth is, public spending on yellow school buses dwarfs what the state and city contribute to student MetroCards. School bus transportation is run by the city's Department of Education, which gets about 30 percent of its funding from the state. With a budget of a little more than $1 billion, the DOE's Office of Pupil Transportation moves around 140,000 students, according to a department rep. On average, that's more than $7,000 per student.

Then there's the MTA, which transports about 585,000 students through its free and discounted fare program. With City Hall's contribution to student MetroCards holding steady at $45 million and Albany offering to put in only $25 million, the city and state are collectively willing to spend less than $120 per student on transit to school.