Fare hike on way, sez MTA
Unlimited Metrocards may be scrapped
Transit fares in New York will go up next spring — and the MTA is considering eliminating unlimited ride Metrocards as a part of the hike.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Wednesday voted to seek fare hikes that boost passenger revenue by 4%. Over the next two months, transit officials will review a slate of proposals to meet that target.
One idea is to keep the base subway and bus fare at $2.75 while eliminating the seven- and 30-day unlimited ride passes.
Another is to raise the base fare to $2.85. More options on the table include increasing the surcharge for new MetroCards from $1 to $3 and no longer allowing coin payments on buses.
The MTA will conduct public outreach on the new fare options over the next two months, and the board is expected to come to a final decision in January. It will take six to eight weeks after that to implement the price changes, officials said.
The notion of getting rid of unlimited MetroCards was in part borne out of the fact that the pandemic has caused fewer straphangers to use the passes, which cost $33 for a seven-day pass and $127 for a 30-day pass.
Unlimited card use has fallen to 34% of all riders, down from 51% in 2019, the MTA says.
The pitch to rid of the unlimited cards has the support of Larry Schwartz, the chair of the MTA’s finance committee and a former top aide to Gov. Cuomo.
“Right now I’m somewhat in favor of eliminating the time based passes because I believe there’s a lot of fraud associated with them,” said Schwartz. “Who is purchasing those seven-day time-based passes?”
Schwartz argued the $2.75 base fare is used more often by New Yorkers who depend on transit, and claimed those who buy unlimited passes are “casual riders.”
Fares for regular riders who depend on the system shouldn’t be raised, Schwartz said. “That is why I like freezing the New York City subway fare at $2.75 while canceling time-based passes, he explained.
To boost rider revenue by 4% on the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road, the MTA may raise prices for single-ride and 10-trip tickets by more than 4% while holding flat the price of monthly and weekly passes.
Transit officials will also consider overhauling the railroad fares entirely by creating three classes of tickets: One for rides that start and end within the city, another for rides that never enter the city, and a third for rides between the city and the suburbs.
Bridge and tunnel tolls will go up 8%, officials said. Under one MTA proposal, drivers would pay $6.70 more per crossing. Another would establish variable rates on the bridges and tunnels, which would charge motorists higher tolls when traffic is most congested.
COVID-19 has cratered the MTA’s finances and made the agency desperate for new cash. Transit officials seek $12 billion in relief from Congress to keep the agency afloat, and on Wednesday released a budget proposal that would slash more than 9,000 jobs and gut subway and bus service by 40%.
MTA chairman Pat Foye said the hikes are absolutely necessary this year due to the agency’s financial situation — even as the pandemic has put hundreds of thousands in the city out of work.
“The reason that we increase tolls and fares every two years is to provide customer service and be able to deliver service,” said Foye. “We are acutely aware that lots of our neighbors in New York City are suffering.”