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Sources tell NY1 that the mayor is asking the four city-controlled MTA board members to push to keep the express bus fare at $5.

He also wants the board to limit service reductions.

Bloomberg says express riders often have few options when it comes to mass transit.

A preliminary budget announced by the MTA last month calls for increasing express bus fares to $7.50 and eliminating several routes.

The budget also calls for increasing the $2 base subway and bus fare.

Last week, a state commission recommended a new payroll tax and tolls on East River and Harlem River bridges as a way of minimizing fare hikes and service cuts.

The MTA board, which has 14 votes, is expected to adopt a 2009 budget next week.

Meanwhile, City Comptroller Bill Thompson voiced his opposition yesterday to the plan to add tolls to the East and Harlem River bridges.

Thompson slammed Bloomberg for not taking a stand on the issue.

Thompson, who plans to run against Bloomberg next year, says the toll plan disproportionately places the burden of closing the MTA's budget gap on drivers who live outside Manhattan.

"Placing tolls along these bridges penalizes people for living in the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, and Brooklyn boroughs – especially those who don't have the best access to subway and bus transportation," said Thompson. "It is unfair. And it places an undue burden on them."

Thompson is proposing a weight-based registration fee on all vehicles. He says the plan would generate more than $1 billion a year for the MTA while promoting energy independence.