If there's any good news in relation to the latest proposed MTA fare hikes, it's that those who don't use the subway very often may be feeling the brunt of the cost. Though they say they want to fill their $400 million budget gap without raising the $2.25 base fare, the Daily News reports that the fare for single-ride paper subway tickets could be going up to $2.50. (The base fare would apparently remain $2.25 for bus rides.) Just 2.1% of customers use single-ride tickets, and we're guessing many of them don't use the subways that frequently.
However, that doesn't mean the regular users won't feel the pain. Along with possibly limiting unlimited MetroCards and charging $1 per new card, pay-per-ride MetroCard users would be gifted just a 10% discount, instead of the 15% given with every card worth $8 or more. Though the MTA says it just wants to spread out the suffering, Bill Henderson of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA says the limited unlimited cards could make the MTA even more unpopular.
Henderson told WNYC, "There will be people who will never get close to 90 [rides] who will think, 'Should I buy this? Because if I use this too many times, it won't work any more.' If you start with some of these changes, they do erode that sense of being able to use this as my way to get around town." Sadly, those of us who don't bike or kayak, it's not like there's any other choice—unless you want to go with the bootleg buses.
