MTA Fare Hike
This morning, while reading my free copy of AM New York, I got wind of a disconcerting potential development regarding a possible MTA fare increase. Now, the $2/ride price has been with us for a while now, and like all services, it was bound to jump. But, there is apparently potential for the price to go up 50% to $3 per ride! This increase would put the monthly unlimited-fare Metrocard at $112/month.
I honestly do understand the need for the MTA to raise prices, but I feel that the MTA is sticking to a whole-dollar price scheme, which means that at a $2 price, then can raise it only by whole dollar increments. That makes a price bump EXTREMELY impacting. And, at the risk of sounding like a 75-year-old, does $3 sound kind of ridiculous to anyone else? The NYC Subway system alone gets over 5 million riders on the average weekday. Are they honestly saying that approximately $10 million in revenue per day is not enough to manage the system? That is roughly $40 Million in monthly revenue, without considering weekend traffic! Editors Note: This number is rough, as it doesn’t consider discounted fares from monthly cards, and other price differences.
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– NYPIRG Straphangers’ Campaign
– Second Avenue Sagas
I honestly do understand the need for the MTA to raise prices
The MTA has an operating budget to meet. The MTA must maintain and modernize a 100-year-old subway system. Under the current fare schedule, the MTA cannot realistically project an net operating budget of $0 (or a surplus) without relying on the uncertainty of a tax windfall. That’s a dangerous project.
Thus, the MTA may have to raise the fares. Of course, if the city raises property taxes by a small percentage or if the feds and state governments kick back some extra money, the MTA won’t have to raise fares.
But we can’t have it both we ways. We can’t complain about the lack of service or the state of disrepair in the subways if we’re not willing to foot the bill. Furthermore, when you factor in the discounts from unlimited ride Metrocards and buy-5-get-6 deals, the cost goes down quite a bit.
So that’s why the MTA would need to raise the fare.
So, the MTA might raise fairs again…..SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?? Why do they do it?, because they can, that’s why. They squander the money they have, then want either the state or fed gov’t to bail them out….but guess who gets stuck with the tab? These guys are the ALLTIME squanderers of money. As for the B.S. reasons the MTA gives for raising the fare, DON’T BELIEVE THEM. You can’t put any stock in the words of a corporation that COOKS It’S BOOKS or shows two different income statements.