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MTA signs off on fare hikes that include higher base fare, higher unlimited


Harry

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[float=left]post-5097-0-85391500-1355950593_thumb.jpg[/float]The (MTA) board approved fare and toll hikes Wednesday, following the recommendation of outgoing Chairman Joseph Lhota, who is expected to run for mayor.

 

The increases include raising the base fare a quarter to $2.50, the 7-day MetroCard $1 to $30 and the 30-day MetroCard $8 to $112.

 

The plan trims the Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard bonus from 7% to 5% — but lowers the minimum buy-in from $10 to $5.

 

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Why don't they ever release the fare increases for MetroNorth, LIRR and express bus riders? We pay higher fares and are always the last ones to find out. <_< I've looked all over the place for that info and they only talk about percentage increases for MetroNorth and LIRR of something like 9%. No mention at all of the express bus.

 

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Edit: Found it...

 

Express bus will go up to $6.00 from $5.50, which is certainly more than fair, this way we maintain ridership for our core users (i.e. middle class & upper middle class working professionals, college students, etc.) and our seniors as well, though the occasional riff-raff may not like the increase. :lol:

Unlimited 7 Day Express Bus Plus will go up to $55.00 from $50.00.

 

Source: http://www.silive.co...ml#incart_river

 

I don't know why SILive is the only friggin' newspaper that gives ALL of the increases with the exception of the LIRR and MetroNorth which I already mentioned earlier.

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How quickly we forget:

 

http://www.nyctransi...an/#entry618414

 

Where do you think SILive got the information from? <_< Either those links I posted above, or this one.

 

The only thing you can blame the MTA for is leaving out the detailed MNRR fares. They already gave the detailed LIRR & express bus fares.

 

As for why SILive was the only one that gave out the express fares, well, what other borough is as dependant on express buses as SI?

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The LIRR & MNRR fares were finalized. The option given was the only option, so there was no debate on that.

 

As for the express bus fare, well, if the local fare was going to be $2.50, with a $30 weekly pass and $112 monthly pass, it's obviously Proposal 1A. Just go down to the bottom of the chart and see what Proposal 1A entails for express bus fares.

 

In any case, the MTA did release it. Whether the newspapers want to report on it or not is a different story. You have to consider that the subway & local buses get many times the ridership of the express buses & commuter rail, so the newspaper might not feel it's worth it to cover them. The only ones who would cover it would be papers like the SI Advance where a lot of its readers use express buses or commuter rail.

 

In any case, here's an article for the LIRR hike.

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According to the article, Lhota stated that he actually agreed with representatives of Transit Workers Union Local 100, who rallied against the fare hike, as New Yorkers are paying more for this public transit service then anyone else in this country, while acknowledging that that New York State and the federal government must provide more subsidies so that "we don't have another fare hike in two years."

 

Let's see him put his money where his mouth is if he ends up being our new mayor of New York City. I'll be waiting.....

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as New Yorkers are paying more for this public transit service then anyone else in this country

 

So suddenly $2.50 is more than the $4 - $5 top fares of other systems in this country. Richmond to SFO on BART tops out at $9.35 one way PM peak. Even staying on a Richmond-Freemont train from one end to the other is $4.90. Virginia to Maryland on Metro is $3.50 with smartrip.

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So suddenly $2.50 is more than the $4 - $5 top fares of other systems in this country. Richmond to SFO on BART tops out at $9.35 one way PM peak. Even staying on a Richmond-Freemont train from one end to the other is $4.90. Virginia to Maryland on Metro is $3.50 with smartrip.

 

 

I believe Lhota was saying that in terms of operating costs, not the overall cost of a single fare.

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So take my place from walking from Sheepshead Bay to Midtown Manhattan. I'll see you in 4 hours.

 

 

$2.50 is incredibly low when you go the distance. But walking is lower. Here are your directions you can use daily:

 

https://maps.google....g=w&mra=ls&z=11

 

EDIT: You'll be walking on Ocean Avenue all the way through about 6 or so neighborhoods then on Flatbush Avenue through Grand Army Plaza, Barclays Center. After you'll faint on the Manhattan Bridge and fall off it. Have a great commute!

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So suddenly $2.50 is more than the $4 - $5 top fares of other systems in this country. Richmond to SFO on BART tops out at $9.35 one way PM peak. Even staying on a Richmond-Freemont train from one end to the other is $4.90. Virginia to Maryland on Metro is $3.50 with smartrip.

 

 

 

To break it down on operating costs against the set fare: It is calculated by a fare operating/recovery ratio.

 

Stats is as follows for 2011:

 

http://www.cbcny.org...ity-fare-ratios

 

 

 

BLOG_Table2_11262012.png

 

Consider the fact that the higher numbers of riders who ride with the MTA allows for the base fare to be lower then that of other transit systems. Lhota was probably referring to similar ratios for 2012 in his admittance (according to the posted article) that the MTA throws more of its' cost of operations on the riders then with any other regional transit system when one does the math.

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With low fares the subway system would not be maintained properly (due to the lack of money) and would lose attraction real fast. Then people would stop riding it and invest in alternatives such as cars. Shazam, you have a completely gridlocked city and the MTA losing lots of money. When the MTA loses money they raise fares creating an expensive crappy system not worth riding.

 

Basically, lower fares in the long run are a gridlocked city and an expensive crappy system

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$2.50 is incredibly low when you go the distance. But walking is lower. Here are your directions you can use daily:

 

https://maps.google....g=w&mra=ls&z=11

 

EDIT: You'll be walking on Ocean Avenue all the way through about 6 or so neighborhoods then on Flatbush Avenue through Grand Army Plaza, Barclays Center. After you'll faint on the Manhattan Bridge and fall off it. Have a great commute!

 

 

I'll be walking? Who said that? You said it buddy, you have fun walking mate.

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When I saw the headlines announcing the fare hike approval by the board, I told myself it's about time that the state put its foot down and decisively said no.

And before any of you MTA supporters begin blabbering about how the state should be giving the agency more money, consider this: the MTA is well-known for its wastefulness. Even the governor suspects the MTA of keeping 'two sets of books'. Point is, you give them more, they'll waste more.

Remember, the 2010 service cuts were originally threatened in 2009, and then the state bailed them out at the last minute. Several months later, the MTA comes out and claims that a large hole had unexpectedly formed in their budget, and that they would need an additional few hundred million dollars. Of course, in 2010 the state didn't bother bailing them out a second time, and so the cuts went into effect.

Bottom line: Let's try to examine the problems that go on at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and fix them before we blame New York State.

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I'll be walking? Who said that? You said it buddy, you have fun walking mate.

 

LOL. Sure, you take the (2)(3)(4) or (5) to Grand Army Plaza and see me walking on Flatbush. Hop back on the train, go to midtown, and wait for 2-or-so hours. When I don't show up... call 911. Remember I faint on the bridge from exhaustion.

 

EDIT: Even easier, instead of Grand Army Plaza, you can meet me at Barclays Center and see my exhaustion! But, it's cheaper than the $2.50 I would have to pay for a (B) or (Q) train to Midtown!

 

Or maybe they should split it up into more manageable agencies: subway and bus for the city, lire for Long Island, mncr for upstate....

 

It's hard to do that because the MTA still needs to be under one roof. It would be hard to keep them allies.

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So suddenly $2.50 is more than the $4 - $5 top fares of other systems in this country. Richmond to SFO on BART tops out at $9.35 one way PM peak. Even staying on a Richmond-Freemont train from one end to the other is $4.90. Virginia to Maryland on Metro is $3.50 with smartrip.

New Yorkers subsidize the system more than any other riders in the country. It's not just the $2.50 that's paid. You pay several (MTA) surcharges (i.e. your phone bill, anytime you take a taxi, tolls etc.). That's what folks forget about. The other thing is that New Yorkers are far more transit dependent than other places and if we keep the raising the prices as often as we have been, we don't encourage the usage of public transportation, which is the whole point. We push people into their cars and we create more congestion, so the idea here is to keep the prices attractive to make folks use the service and also keep the service affordable for those with limited incomes because it is no secret that those who need the local buses and subways the most are usually poorer New Yorkers especially in the outer boroughs (i.e. Bronx, Staten Island, parts of Queens, etc.)

 

We also have to do more to protect suburban riders who are also being slammed with higher costs on top the commuter tax that many pay. This is why I completely understand why Ed Mangano fought to undo that commuter tax for his residents because it's double taxation on several levels simply because the city and Albany isn't providing what they should be to subsidize the system.

 

There's also another issue at play here and that's the fact that (MTA) workers salaries will continue to rise along with healthcare and pensions and the healthcare costs in most cases for private companies are passed onto the workers usually. The (MTA) continues to absorb most of those costs and those are costs that will be very difficult to keep down and manage and that's something that will continue to force the fares upwards. This is in no way meant to slight (MTA) workers but it's a reality that the (MTA) faces and has to deal with.

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