Riders Prepare For MTA Fare Hike Vote

By: John Mancini

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New Yorkers will learn just how much more they will be paying to ride the subways and buses when the MTA board votes on a fare hike plan Thursday. NY1 transit reporter John Mancini filed the following report.

There's a fare hike heading down the track for January, and riders know who they blame.

"MTA service is really more than wanting. And it's despicable the way they go about things with their budget problems. The executives take high pay, they make cuts and service doesn't improve," said transit rider Alan Gardner.

LIVE Coverage

NY1 will carry the MTA's hearing and vote LIVE Thursday beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Advocates say you shouldn't have to pay more to get less. And they say there's plenty of blame to go around.

"The government should help out more than it has, and I think the MTA should have made more of an effort to go to Washington, Albany and City Hall," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign.

It seems likely the MTA will keep offering unlimited-ride weekly and monthly MetroCards, but you will be paying more.

The seven-day card is to go from $27 to $29. The 30-day is proposed to hit a whopping $104, a $15 jump. The MTA board will also be asked to approve charging an extra dollar for buying a new MetroCard rather than refilling. The one-day and 14-day unlimited cards would also be axed.

The $2.25 base fare would be unchanged. But single-use cards would cost $2.50, since you'll pay 25 cents for the card itself. The bonus for Pay-Per-Ride cards would kick in only after $10. The discount would go down to seven percent. Currently, you get a 15 percent bonus after $8.

"It's going to hit working New Yorkers straight in their pocketbook. And it comes in the same year that we've had the worst service cuts in a generation. And it comes after two more fare hikes we've had in the past two years," said Paul Steely White of Transportation Alternatives.

The MTA says shortfalls in state aid make this hike unavoidable. And even the half-billion dollars cut this year won't stave off another increase planned for 2013.

"We're going to see over the course of the next year how these cuts in car cleaners and subway clerks and maintainers and track cleaners, what the toll is going to be on the system. They say they can do it without much harm. But past examples, they don't do so hot," Russianoff said.

The MTA says no more big service cuts are coming, but drivers beware. Later this month, the board is scheduled to vote on raising tolls on its nine bridges and tunnels starting in January.