Ilya Marritz
Ilya Marritz covers business for WNYC.
Students Want State to Keep Metrocards Free
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
New York, NY –
When Governor Paterson unveils his spending plan for 2010-2011 today, he may have important news for roughly 600,000 New York City school kids. The MTA is threatening to do away with free Metrocards for students because of diminishing state aid. Callie Richards, a sophomore at Elizabeth Irwin High School, wants the governor to restore that funding. She says she'll have to forfeit her allowance otherwise, and much of the money she makes doing odd jobs.
RICHARDS: Let's say I um make 60 bucks a month and then for that month I spend 40 dollars just to get to school and back everyday. It's a lot of money.
REPORTER: Other students have said it'll be too much of a financial burden on their parents to cover the cost of Metrocards.
It costs more than $200 million a year to provide free Metrocards to kids in school. The MTA is proposing to introduce half-fare cards this year, and abolish the student discount entirely in 2011.
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