PAY MORE FOR LESS
MTA set to vote on hikes (again!), & service cuts, too
The MTA board on Thursday is set to vote on a slate of fare hikes — while transit officials are at the same time considering service cuts that would leave riders paying more for less.
The proposed changes would increase fare revenues by 4%, the same price bump that’s been implemented every two years for more than a decade and is designed to be in line with inflation.
MTA officials have put forth a slew of proposals for the fare hikes. Most would increase the cost of a single subway or bus swipe to $3 from $2.75. One pitch would keep the single fare at $2.75 while eliminating the option for seven- and 30-day unlimited ride passes.
This year’s hikes come with a far bleaker backdrop. The COVID-19 pandemic has hammered New York’s economy, while remote work and a drop in tourism has caused subway ridership to fall by roughly 70%.
“This is not the time to raise fares,” said Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. “This is the time to incentivize people to ride the system, not discourage them.”
Low ridership has led Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials to mull over ways to “rightsize” service. In other words: longer waits for trains and buses.
MTA honchos are typically required by law to endure months of public hearings before cutting service — but have a history of reducing service on bus and train lines without much input from riders.
MTA Chairman Patrick Foye and other MTA executives were prepared in November to cut subway and bus service by as much as 40% before Congress approved $4 billion in pandemic relief funding in December. Even though the federal aid prevented those cuts, the MTA board still approved 25% service reductions on a pair of Long Island Rail Road branches that officials chalked off as rightsizing.
MTA officials said more rightsizing was being considered for subway service. New Yorkers must also continue to deal with the subway being closed to passengers from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. each night, a measure put in place by Gov. Cuomo on May 6 to help clean train cars and remove homeless people from the system.
“The first step toward rightsizing service is restoring overnight service,” said Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein. “Right now they’re leaving tens of thousands of essential workers out in the cold . ... The idea of rightsizing service by cutting it is a slap in the face to essential workers.”
It’s not yet clear which fare hike option will be voted on by the MTA board at Thursday’s meeting.
“We recognize the economic hardship facing our customers and the board will take this, and the thousands of public comments received at eight virtual public hearings, when making its decision,” said MTA spokesman Ken Lovett.
The prospect of chipping away at service worried some union leaders like Transport Workers Union President John Samuelsen, who in November lobbied for new revenue streams like a stock transfer tax to help avoid thousands of job cuts.
“They haven’t lifted a finger to start identifying new revenue sources,” said Samuelsen. “It would be atrocious for them to engage in fare increases without beginning the process of identifying permanent sources of revenue.”
The MTA has earmarked roughly $8 billion in emergency funding through a pair of COVID-19 relief bills passed by Congress last year — and transit officials have said they’ll need another $8 billion in the coming years.
Advocates hope President-elect Joe Biden taking office Wednesday and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) becoming Senate majority leader shortly after will help bring more aide to the MTA to help avoid future cuts. Both leaders have proposed $20 billion of additional relief funding for transit agencies, including at least $4 billion for the MTA.
“A lot can happen in just those two days that will help dictate what happens with any fare hike,” Daglian said.