The last
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Monday proposed raising the base fare for a single subway, bus or paratransit ride in New York City by 5 percent from $2.75 to $2.90 — the first base fare increase since 2015.
The proposal would increase the cost of a seven-day MetroCard by 3 percent from $33 to $34, and the cost of a 30-day MetroCard would increase by 4 percent from $132 to $127, the first increase for those products since 2019. for express bus service, the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad would also rise, as would tolls on the authority’s bridges and tunnels.
If the authority’s board approves the increases, they would take effect no later than Labor Day, officials said.
Why it matters
New York City’s public transportation network, the largest in the United States, is a vital lifeline that millions of people rely on every day, especially to get to and from work.
Even with only 70 percent of prepandemic passenger numbers, the subway has carried four million passengers on different weekdays since last month.
The authority sought to mitigate the effect of the proposed increases on working New Yorkers by raising them more modestly on weekly and monthly MetroCards, officials said. Nevertheless, any increase in essential costs in a time of high inflation is likely to have an impact.
Danny Pearlstein, a spokesman for the Riders Alliance, an advocacy group, said a fare increase was inevitable, but he urged Mayor Eric Adams to increase eligibility for the city’s Fair Fares program, which raises fares for the half-price offers for eligible poor New Yorkers.
“Riders need our mayor to step in to help those least able to afford the walk,” Pearlstein said.
Background
The proposed increase is not as big as it could have been. Before Governor Kathy Hochul and lawmakers enacted this year’s state budget, the authority was running a massive deficit that resulted in part from the pandemic’s impact on ridership.
The final budget included a payroll tax on major New York City corporations that targeted public transportation, a one-time payment of $300 million to the authority, and an additional $65 million to mitigate any potential for a larger increase.
The subway has struggled financially since at least the 1970s, when a municipal fiscal crisis exacerbated the myriad problems caused by the system’s crumbling infrastructure. To help prevent further decay, legislators in the 1980s took steps to allow the authority to issue bonds, but the agency’s debt has since ballooned and spending has outstripped revenue.
The pandemic created new financial headaches, with passengers abandoning subways and buses, depleting critical fare revenues.
What’s next
The authority council expects to hold public hearings on the proposal next month and vote on it in July.
