Straphangers: (New York metro) MTA plan would hike fares 28 percent

[marmar]

from Newsday:



Straphangers: MTA plan would hike fares 28 percent
BY ALFONSO A. CASTILLO | [e-mail]
December 10, 2008


The average Long Island Rail Road fare would jump from $5.71 to $7.31 if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority implemented its "doomsday budget" for 2009, a transit group said yesterday.

The Straphangers Campaign released the findings of an analysis by the New York City Independent Budget Office that calculated how the MTA's proposed 23 percent increase in fare revenue next year probably would translate into dollars and cents for transit riders.

Taking into account a likely loss of ridership throughout the MTA if the hefty fare hike were enacted, the budget office determined that to generate an overall 23 percent increase in fare revenue, the MTA actually would have to raise fares 28 percent.

That would mean the cost of a subway ride going from $2 to "at least" $2.50, a seven-day MetroCard increasing from $25 to $32, and a 30-day card soaring from $81 to $104, the study said.

"Transit fares will go through the roof and service through the floor unless Gov. Paterson and state legislative leaders come to the rescue of transit riders," Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the Straphangers Campaign, said in a statement. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/transportation/ny-lifare105959246dec10,0,2428409.story