Plan To End Free Student Metrocards Sparks Outrage

from ultraclay!'s flickr

No part of the MTA's planned service cuts has proven to be more controversial than the agency's proposal to get rid of free Metrocards for students.

In a move that Mayor Bloomberg called "unconscionable," more than 500,000 public school students who currently commute for free would have to pay half price next September and full price the year after that. Getting rid of the free student fares might help the agency plug a part of it newly discovered $400 million budget gap, but the increase is too much for Queens student Lester De La Cruz, who said: "I don't think I could afford that so I think I'd have to transfer out of the school I've been going to for two years now."

Community activist Anthony Herbert told WCBS that eliminating the free rides could lead students to break the law. "Our kids are going to be jumping turnstiles with the effort to get to school which gets them summonses that they can't pay for, which means now it's turns into warrants," he said. "Thousands of parents are kind of ticked off right now that their kids are being jeopardized with regard to the opportunity of going to school."

Increasing student fares is just one part of the planned service cuts, which almost entirely mirror the proposed "doomsday" cuts from last spring. If approved, straphangers will witness the elimination of the W and Z trains, the shortening of the G and M trains, a reduction in train service at midday and at night, the shuttering of a few train stations at night, the elimination of more than a dozen bus routes, the elimination of weekday and weekend service on dozens of other buses, a 10 percent salary cut for non-union workers, layoffs for 700 MTA workers, reductions in Access-A-Ride services of for the disabled, and reductions in service on Metro North and Long Island Rail Road routes. The full MTA board is expected to vote on the budget tomorrow, though some of the more controversial cuts will need to be approved again next year, according to the Times.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Ben Muessig in News on December 15, 2009 6:05 PM

Comments [rss]

bryan-178

If they make us pay for MetroCards i am going to have to dropout or go to my zone school because paying for MetroCard every month is to much for my mom and i have my sister too.

shegotswaqqa

doesn't the families of mta workers get free rides, what about the mta workers themselves? I'm a student myself and i go to a very good school that i wouldn't be able to go to if i couldn't get my free metro card. The neighborhood i live in has a school across the street from where i live but it's not good enough. I'd have to settle for less and go to a bummy school just because the doe or the mta, or whoever it is , there just being cheaap!!!! my parents pay taxes for a reason, better yet adults pay taxes for a reason don't you think ??!

Karen

why cant they cut something else? i ride the train everyday esp G!!!!!!! my school is around there! i dont think its possbile to go to school if your family has more than 1 kid! also, this is unfair ....they spend it trying to build some new stations for no reason and now theyre broke its esp. gov's fault too!!!!!Soon kids will be learning to jump turnstiles!!!!!!! and those police are gonna be needed :] aka => more $$$$$$ nedeed!

danny

The MTA Are Nothing But Criminals. Doing Anything To Get More Money In Their Pockets. And Leaving Every Commuter

Broke With No Money Left. What A Shame?

Leon Freilich

SUBWAY FAIR

The subway always beats driving,

And believe me I'm not crackers;

When any train breaks down,

You're not billed 400 smackers

Terell

perhaps if the city acknowledged the MTA's DECADES of WILD corruption and embezzlement from the top down (i'm talking WILD, kids) NYC's more than 8 million residents wouldn't have to suffer for the sins of a few.

but that's the way our world is.

BklynsFinest

Ratner is allowed to pay $10 million, instead of the $100 million he signed to pay for MTA land, which is less than the $200+ million value of the land.

The MTA is "desperate" for funds sending for "Doomsday" yet they make no effort to collect from a Billionair, wonder why?

http://umbrooklynborn.blogspot.com/2009/12/photowednesday-121609-pay-your-fair.html

ed_Extinct

single ride fare should be $5. Problem solved.

Karen

$5?????? do you expect use kids to walk to school lik 15 mi???? how much would you spend a yr and what if parents have 4 kids? itl add up!!!!!! even for adults too=> poverty

dreamking

This isn't the worst idea. I was in Osaka in 1997, and to take the train cross-town it cost $16. One way.

But if we do that, I sure as hell want congestion pricing on all water crossings, with all money earmarked for life to NYC public transportation. We need 60% of a Robert Moses for NYC transit.

TheCowman

Well, bring on Congestion Pricing. They all finally got their wish.

Geoelh

Fewer teenagers on the subway? I'll have a slice of that.

Let the Schools send the MTA some money for moving their students about the surface of the earth. It's more efficient than running more school buses.

blackwhole

Just tell Bloomberg it'll be good for Goldman - that'll get him to fall in line.

maryjr

They are not going to cut student MetroCards. What they want to do is outrage people so that when they introduce the "real" service cuts they will seem more acceptable.

NattyB

Good catch,

I don't work in PR/Communications, but, if I did, this is the approach I'd take.

Re: service cuts

Does anyone know what are the planned cuts for the Z,M?

I don't ride the train much, but, I'd want to know if the M would still go to the financial district from Queens? It'd be a biatch to have to switch to the 4,5 from Brooklyn Bridge (or do the J/Z end there-sorta, but the Z is ending for good? I'm so confused).

nickv

Whenever I see stories like this, I always think to myself (and make sure to remind everyone else around me), "Thank You Sheldon Silver." (re: killing congestion pricing.) Sigh, can we get that guy out of office already?

thefacts

"Sigh, can we get that guy out of office already?"

It's easy for you to do. Move into his district, organize the voters and win. The last time two candidates tried it in 2008, Shelly got 62% of the vote. His constituents seem to like him.

But I am sure an anonymous internet blogger can succeed in overcoming the wishes of the vast majority of the electorate.

poopmast

We'll they could always go the school lunch route

low income households - free

middle income households - half fare

upper income households - full fare