New York Transit Agency Approves 25% Bus, Subway Fare Increa

[KapitanSparrow]

By Chris Dolmetsch

March 25 (Bloomberg) -- A single ride on New York City buses and subways will rise 50 cents to $2.50 on May 31 under a “doomsday” budget plan approved by the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board today.

The average cost of a trip on the authority’s bridges, trains and tunnels will increase as much as 30 percent by July 11 under the plan, which also includes layoffs and service reductions to fill a budget deficit projected to swell to more than $1.2 billion.

The price of a monthly bus and subway pass, known as a MetroCard, will rise to $103 from $81. A weekly pass will increase to $31 from $25, a 14-day pass to $59 from $47 and a one-day pass to $9.50 from $7.50.

Today’s vote came as state legislators in Albany have failed to act on a plan developed by a panel headed by the authority’s former chairman, Richard Ravitch, imposing tolls on free East River and Harlem River bridges and creating a new corporate payroll tax to fill the budget gap.

“The fare increases and service cuts are the only major tools that Albany has given the board to operate the transit system and keep it in the black,” MTA Executive Director Elliot “Lee” Sander told the board, calling the budget a “doomsday” plan. “There are no other moves in the board’s playbook.”

The authority, the largest U.S. public transportation agency, operates New York City Transit, the Long Island and Metro-North commuter railroads, seven bridges and two tunnels. The agency last raised fares and tolls an average of 4 percent in March 2008, while keeping the cost of a single bus and subway ride at $2.

Commuters Cover Costs

New York City commuters pay the highest proportion of operating expenses in the country, covering 52 percent of the costs of running the buses and subways combined, said Gene Russianoff, an attorney with the New York Public Interest Research Group’s Straphangers Campaign.

With the fare increase, the share of the subway operating expenses paid by riders will rise to 83 percent from 59 percent, Russianoff said.

Fares for the Long Island and Metro-North railroads -- the two busiest U.S. commuter train lines -- will go up on June 1, with the average ticket price increasing 24 percent to 29 percent.

Bridge tolls will go up on July 11. The cost of major crossings, such as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge and Brooklyn- Battery Tunnel, will rise to $6.50 from $5 for drivers paying cash and to $5.26 from $4.15 for motorists using E-ZPass tags.

Increases and Cuts

The cost of minor crossings, such as the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, will increase to $3.25 from $2.50 in cahs and to $1.96 from $1.55 with E-Z Pass.

About 1,100 of the authority’s 70,000 employees will be laid off, and service cuts will be implemented -- including the elimination of the W and Z trains and the closing or reduction in hours of 42 subway station booths.

The cuts will eliminate or reduce service on five subway lines, get rid of 20 bus routes and hundreds of station agents, and lead to longer waits and more crowding, said Russianoff, who called on Governor David Paterson to work with state lawmakers on a solution.

“It’s still not too late for Albany to come to the rescue,” Russianoff told the board. “These devastating fare increases and service cuts cannot stand and must not stand, and this cannot be the end of the story.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.

Ohh how glad I am not having to rely on the damn MTA for transportation. I don't think there ever was a year when they didn't have a deficit. Fcuking morons! Hmmm, perhaps fare hikes could be avoided if an average bus driver didn't make 65K+ a year

[RedMan]

Man I am getting old. My first subway token cost me 50 cents. I thought that was outrageous.

I am so happy I don't live there anymore. Love to visit though.

[DiscGo]

Cab rights just became that much more affordable.