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David S. Mack, a vice chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, backed off on Thursday from statements he had made defending the use of unlimited free travel passes for the authority’s board members and said he would now vote to curtail the perk.

Mr. Mack’s reversal came just hours after Gov. David A. Paterson issued a scorching statement saying that continuing the free travel privilege at a time of economic difficulty would show “an utter contempt for average New Yorkers.”

Mr. Mack, a wealthy real estate executive from Long Island, prompted a storm of controversy on Wednesday when he told reporters that if the free travel passes he received as a transportation authority board member were taken away, he might not ride the Long Island Rail Road any more.