Video: New York City Council takes on the MTA from NYCtracks.com on Vimeo.

The City Council’s transportation and education committees held a joint hearing to question the MTA on the elimination of free student MetroCards. The audience was surprisingly sparse, considering the passion witnessed at previous hearings on the MTA cuts. But some of the council members were riled up. We have a three-minute video summary of the two-hour meeting.

– Simone Sebastian

It was a busy week for the MTA’s public relations department – and an emotional one for subway workers and riders.

On the up side, the transit agency announced that it was installing more countdown clocks in subway stations and launching a test-run of new security cameras on trains.

And transit chief Thomas Prendergast said he wants to infuse $700 million into station improvements during the next five years.

“I don’t want to say that because of our budget issues, we can’t make improvements,” Prendergast told the Daily News.

Oh yeah…those budget issues. In the same week, the MTA announced it would lay off 15 percent of its subway station agents to save money.

Will New Yorkers agree with the MTA’s priorities? We’ll find out at this week’s public hearings.

Here’s a review of the issues at stake. Let us know where you stand.

– Simone Sebastian