MTA Votes on Fare Raise: 30-day Metrocard now $116.50

When will it stop?

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted on Thursday to raise the base fare on subways and buses by a quarter, to $2.75, and the cost of a 30-day MetroCard by $4.50, to $116.50. The new fares, approved by the authority’s board, were part of a package of increases being considered for the system’s trains, buses, tunnels and bridges. The new rates will take effect on March 22.


M.T.A. Votes to Raise Fares on Subways and Buses

This is not a big deal. The fare goes up maybe every 2-3 years. It is what is. The public will adjust.

A 30-day pass was $89.00 six years ago. We shouldn't settle for adjusting, unless we are given legitimate reasons for a fare raise. The MTA is simply trying to generate more revenue for the corrupt and greedy politicians that it supports.

You need to f*cking get over it and worry about something you CAN control.

Take a f*cking cab then if you don't like it.

That will make one less rat in the subways.

#b*tchyoudonefvckedwiththewrongbwwposter

Updated On: 1/22/15 at 12:18 PM

^ This.

Im off and on several times a day so monthly is worth it for me.
I'd rather it not go up whatcha gonna do..they're not lowering it.

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Amen, wizard.

Hats off to Phyllis on your penultimate post - one of the best posts ever, anywhere.
While I don’t relish the thought of paying more, it doesn’t really trouble or surprise me. I think that the NYC transit system is pretty incredible in light of the number of people it moves every day and the distances it travels, particularly in light of the aging infrastructure of the city. I don’t really see the corruption issue here (although I can’t say the same for much of the roadwork around the city that, while likely necessary, seems more of a never-ending annuity, although I’m not sure whose, if anyone’s pockets are being lined there).
And wizard, I have to say that you really are delayed in going to work every day it’s your fault and not the MTA’s - you're simply leaving too late.

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From the Gothamist in 2013. Even more relevant now than in 2013. How terrifying.

After a big fare hike earlier this year, the MTA determined there would be two more sizable fare hikes in 2015 and 2017. However, it was announced this week that the MTA will have a $1.9 billion budget surplus over the next four years. You'd think this would mean that we'd get a stay of execution on those fare hikes. You'd be wrong: “They are revenues that we aren’t sure we are going to repeat. Some big tax collections and things like that,” MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg told the Post. “We don’t think it’s prudent to take money that you don’t know is going to be there next year and use it for any purpose that is going to have to be recurring.”

In other words, don't hold you breath. For now, New York State comptroller Tom DiNapoli is leaving the door open for some relief. With MTA finances "much improved," he said there was at least an argument to be made for "reducing the size" of the fare hikes. However, it sounds like there will still be some kind of fare hike, if not the full one reported a few months back.

The Straphanger's Campaign is also hoping that the MTA is able to be reasonable and reduce the proposed 8.4% fare increases: "Transit riders here already pay far more than fair share of the cost of transit operations, compared to riders in other big systems in America. According to the Federal Transit Administration, riders in NYC pay 60% of operating costs, while the burden is lower in Chicago (44%), Washington D.C. (51%), Philadelphia (35%), Boston (36%) and Atlanta (29%)."


SOURCE: http://gothamist.com/2013/09/29/fare_hike.php

Suck on that maricona!

Total Ridership - Subways target: 1,588,498,471
actual: 1,601,098,884 [+.79%] Nov 2014

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Updated On: 1/22/15 at 05:46 PM

No, sabre. The 1.9 billion surplus is not funding that. The city, state, and a separate reserve built up by MTA is covering those expenses. I'd rather know where this massive surplus is going. It ain't going to "improvements." It's going to the greedy politicians who legislate over the MTA and it's lining the pockets of the corrupt MTA executives.