MTA holds final public hearing on fare hikes
NEW YORK - The MTA held its final public hearing on proposed fare hikes on Monday evening.
At the hearing, some subway riders excoriated the MTA for even considering raising fares as the city continues to struggle with ongoing inflation. However, the MTA says the fare increases are a necessity, considering the financial beating the agency took during the pandemic.
"The MTA has been unable to get its fiscal house in order and has lost over a billion dollars from fare beating over the last several years," said Vittorio Bugatti, a member of an express bus advocacy group. "You can’t expect us taxpayers and your riders to continue to pay for such gross incompetence and negligence."
Other rides questioned why the MTA would need fare hikes when congestion pricing is supposed to raise the needed cash for the agency.
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The proposed hikes would increase the base fare of a subway ride from $2.75 to $2.90, while a monthly pass would go up from $127 to $132.
The express bus fare would increase by 25 cents to $27, while the weekly express bus fare would increase to $64.
The LIRR and Metro-North would see hikes ranging from possibly 4.5% to 10%.
Finally, as for MTA bridges and tunnels, there are two options: One would raise all tolls by 7%, the other would increase E-Z Pass by 6%.