Faced with budget woes, MTA approves new fare hikes

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s newest fare hikes will hit the subway’s most loyal customers, public transportation advocates say.

The MTA board approved a series of fare hikes on Thursday that will go into effect at the end of the year and help the cash-strapped agency yield a 7.5 percent increase in fare revenue.

This is the third round of hikes for New Yorkers in the last three years.

30-day unlimited cards will face a 17 percent increase from $89 to $104, and an unlimited weekly pass will rise from $27 to $29. All riders will face a 25-cent jump for single rides, raising the fare to $2.50.

The MTA cited a $900 million funding gap, in addition to shortfalls in state tax revenue and cuts to state aid. The MTA says that internal cost-cutting measures this year will save $380 million in 2010.
Transportation groups say the state has to find an alternative solution to its budget problems.

“It’s just been assault after assault and asking people to pay more for less,” said Kim Martineau, a spokeswoman for Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group.

Commuters on the Upper West Side have already been hurt by the MTA’s financial woes—the local M104 and M10 buses had the southern ends of their routes slashed in a recent round of cuts.
The hike announced this week, though, will impact New Yorkers across the city.

“People feel very frustrated and defeated,” Martineau said, adding that Transportation Alternatives has launched a “Rider Rebellion” campaign in response to the hikes—an effort to demand that the state legislature and candidates for office in Albany give the transit system the funding it deserves.

The system needs to change, and the state needs to take public transportation much more seriously, she said.

But for riders, the cuts and hikes have become all too familiar.