Your Subway Fare is Going Up. It's Only a Question of How.
Facing both a capital budget deficit and booming ridership, the MTA is proposing to raise fares two percent a year for two years. But it's offering two different ways to get there.
The agency sketched out a couple of scenarios on Monday.
Under the first proposal, the base fare of a single ride would rise to $2.75, but a bonus for purchasing multiple rides would be preserved. The second proposal maintains the base fare at $2.50, but the bonus would be eliminated.
“The MTA is keeping its promise to ensure fare and toll increases are as low as possible, and these options are designed to minimize their impact on our customers,” said MTA chair Thomas Prendergast. “We have cut more than $1 billion from our ongoing expenses, but a modest fare and toll increase is necessary to balance our budget against the increased costs of providing the bus, subway, railroad and paratransit service that is the backbone of the region’s mobility and economic growth.”
Gene Russianoff, the staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, was relatively sanguine about the impending fare hike.
"There have been four fare increases in seven years," he said, "and like most New Yorkers I’m tired of them and don’t want them. But is a 4 percent hike a reason for manning the barricades? I don’t think so. It’s fair to ask the riders to pay something."
He said given the choice, he favors the proposal that rewards the frequent rider. "I come out on the side of having a pay-per-ride discount if you can cobble together the five bucks, which most people can do who use the subway relatively often."
The MTA will hold eight public hearings next month to take comment on the proposals. If adopted, as expected, a new fare hike would go into effect in March 2015.
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