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Photograph of a crowded E train by milkshakepants on Flickr
While the MTA doesn't want to comment yet on how they might close the $1.2 billion budget gap, the speculation continues. The Daily News thinks the "base fare will likely rise into the $2.50-to-$3 range," adding, "Officials haven't set new target prices for the unlimited-ride MetroCards." Yesterday, the News details how service would be cut, like eliminating the Z, cutting G and M service in half, and running trains less frequently over night.
The NY Times reports the MTA "will seek to increase fare and toll revenues by 23 percent next year to plug a yawning budget gap." The Times adds the base subway and bus fare will be at least $2.50, prompting one person to wonder, “It’s going to be fewer trains but the fare’s going up?”
The News adds that there will probably be HUGE fare hikes for the disabled and express bus riders: Access-A-Ride, which now costs $2, will double and express bus riders face a 50% hike, with fares moving from $5 to $7.50. Officials tells the News that those two services "carry few riders and reap little revenue. They have the lowest per trip revenue-to-expenses ratios in the MTA network."
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"prompting one person to wonder, “It’s going to be fewer trains but the fare’s going up?”"
editor-speak for "WTF"?
Why does the city continue to subsidize cars (free parking, free bridges) while making mass transit less appealing?
do the head honchos at the mta still get free ez pass? unlimited lifetime metro cards? a fucking HELICOPTER to work? is the staten island ferry still free?
absolute bullshit. didnt think it could get any worse than having these dumb balances on my cards.
...and they're (maybe) cutting their amazingly bloated payroll by a mere 1,500 employees? What complete fucking bullshit.
ouch!
Only with a government subsidized monopoly does the idea of screwing the customers make sense in closing budget gaps!
Sorry, disabled people, you don't count.
Why not just raise the fare to $3.50? The United States Postal Service (USPS) cries poverty every year as well and then they raise the stamp fee 1¢. Why not raise the stamp fee to 50¢ and stop with this Mickey Mouse bullshit of tiny increases. I think one of the main issues with the MTA (and the USPS) is that they think of a year or two down the road and not 5 to 15 years.
I caught the tail end of a TV interview with the MTA chief. His justification for being chauffeured to work by law enforcement officers? Death threats, of course.
Classic negotiation tactic: demand $3 fare, settle for $2.50.
And the MTA is like—"Sigh...very well then if we must...(suckers).
#8, the postal service has the annual increase b/c of inflation. There's no reason to hike the price of stamps (or subway/bus fares) that drastically in one year.
#2, I agree that the MTA should seriously consider a moderate toll on some of the bridge to alleviate a portion of the burden on subway riders.
this is fucking bullshit. i know the econony as a whole is in the tank but what the hell did the mta do with the last fare increase they got? all that has happened since then is service had gotten even crappier. stop with the bullshit of the 2nd avenue subway and all it's delays and cost over runs, cut the executive perks, cut the executive salries, fire all the union deadweight and get back to basics. finally privatize the freaking mta - enough of this state agency bullshit.
This is wonderful, all the more reason to get the hell out of NY, now i won't be able to afford to get to my job to pay my rent and continue living paycheck to paycheck, because lets face the people who can afford these constant increases are taking taxis, chauffeurs, and don't give 2 shits about the people.
Ahhh, I remember the good ol' days of $2.50 per ride for Toronto Transit... it's up to $2.75 now and will likely be increased as one of the subways lines is expanding and a slew of starchitects have been hired to make them all pretty.
http://torontoist.com/2008/11/we_are_all_made_of_starchitects.php
Fuck the MTA.
Can the RICO Act be applied here? what a bunch of crooks
^
...and then we privatize the shit out of it.
Where's Anthony Weiner to complain about this? He threw a shit fit at the idea of bridge tolls, what about this?
the fare was a 1 for 3 years. 1.25 for 3 years and 1.50 for 8 years! what the fuck is this annual fare increase?
Cutting the G service in half will probably improve it. Just like how a star becomes much more powerful when it collapses and makes a black hole.
NYC's economy depended on lots of people and the Federal government living on the tab, and also the Ponzi scheme of inflating credit money which caused bubbles in the equities and real estate markets and yuppies to move to Williamsburg from Lieberman country. Most of the money went to landlords anyway. Well, that's all over now. Best look forward to walking or taking a bicycle.
By the way, has anyone figured out where all the money went, other than the well-known rat-hole? Ah, to be a rat-hole rat these days. They must be quite prosperous.
The PT fares need to keep up with the cost of a slice of pizza. Honest.
Just raise the fare to $4, please. Eight bucks a day to commute to work?! Not bad. It's probably more like 6 after you buy an unlimited.
The rest of the country pays more or equal in gas and parking each day.
Obviously, keep student fares below the normal rate, but even then most cities and towns have "bus fees" or "student parking lot fees".
Of course, I'd rather privatize each line.
I'd like to see more people swicthing to bikes -- just so I can see this fare hike blow up in the MTA's face.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Drop dead, MTA. Perhaps I need to get on my bicycle in the Spring.
On second thought, I like not being a flattened corpse.
A better question is why does the executive level leadership of the MTA still have their jobs?
Next year at this time the MTA will be thinking of another fare hike. It's the same message being repeated over and over. This is not going to stop until the commuters take a stand against the MTA.
Moonyap - that was funny. Very funny.
I never knew the E train got that crowded.
I've been riding on the west side greenway, it's not that bad in the summer.
Don't thank me, thank the hapless G for being so easily mockable. I hate you, G-train!
The buses will be a nightmare, with tourists in the airport trying to come up with $2.50 in change for themselves & each of their kids! Add another 20 minutes to the M60 route time.
you had that happen too, succubus?
don't forget grandma.
"The rest of the country pays more or equal [$6] in gas and parking each day."
$6 of gas even at $4/gal and 20 mpg will get you 30 miles, which is right around the length of an average commute (16 miles one-way), and most people in the rest of the country don't pay for parking at work.
there are plenty of people that consistently post on this website that call for the socialization of tons of public markets, preaching that private business is is the reason we have gotten into this mess. this is a government body that runs this disaster. the freaking government can't even get our trains right and we want to hand them our healthcare!!! i understand one is federal and one is the state, but come on! government bureaucracies suck!
The state and city deserve blame as well.
Everyone complaining and wonder why the fare keeps going up so drastically, so quickly, BLAME PATAKI.
Pataki cut practically all funding to the MTA, forcing them to borrow about $15 billion to pay for the 3,000+ new subway cars and other capital improvements.
That money is coming due now in greater and greater shares, and the debt service alone is $1 billion next year.
THIS is why they need ever increasing sums of money. To pay off the loans Pataki hoisted upon them so a future governor could get fucked and deal with the consequences.
The gas argument vs the trains is not as strong now with gas prices dropping dramatically. Some parts of the country gas is under $2 a gallon.
moonyap...ftw!
"I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like"
wtf people? you complain too much.
my monthly metro card is $76 with transitchek. If I ride the system ONLY for work, that comes out to 1.90 a ride, not including weekends. Often I catch a bus during the day, so my usage goes up again, bringing down the cost of a fare even more. $2 to ride this antiquated system, which CANNOT be upgraded due to its age, is a bargain.
and bh is right, the frequency of the fare hikes is a myth. check.
Also, the gas to train is not fair, in the sense that, if i had a choice to spend the same amount of money and DRIVE myself, where i would 1-have a seat, 2-not have to listen to everyone else's iPod(invest in real headphones people), smell everyone's morning breath & farts, have a heavy person get 2 seats while i stand, it's ridiculous, there is NO comparison. If i have to pay more, then the people taking up more space then i, should have to pay twice as much, just like w/airline seats. Maybe we can base fare hikes on individual size!! Sorry, ANOTHER annoying commute.