Stock up on those $76 MetroCards while you still can.

The MTA Board has voted to approve the proposed fare hike. Beginning March 2, 2008, fares for New York City buses and subways will increase. CityRoom has the story:

The majority of riders — who use unlimited-ride MetroCards or get a discount for buying multiple rides at once — will have to pay more, starting on March 2. The costs of unlimited-ride cards will rise to $81 from $76 for the 30-day card and to $25 from $24 for the 7-day card; a new 14-day card will be sold for $47.

The bonus for regular pay-per-ride cards will be reduced to 15 percent from 20 percent, but the threshold for receiving the bonus will also be reduced, to $7 from $10. With the bonuses in place, the average cost of a bonus ride will rise to $1.74 from $1.67. The express bus fare ($5) and the cost of a 7-day express bus pass ($41) remain unchanged.

As anyone who follows New York politics knows, the fare hike debate has been raging for much of the last two months. The MTA wanted a higher increase and a base-fare hike as well, but Gov. Spitzer, ever mindful of those tourists in New York, decided he would rather screw over the regular commuters with a token gesture that keeps the base fare at $2 and didn’t really help his sagging approval ratings anyway.

While the MTA has long pushed this fare hike an important step on the road to fiscal responsibility, opponents of the hike have urged the agency to wait a few months for Albany to kick back some money. “I think there’s no harm in waiting until July 1, to keep the pressure on Albany and to ensure they come through for the M.T.A.,” MTA Board Member and fare hike dissenter Andrew Saul said. “By taking the pressure off Albany at this point, it’s a bad mistake for us.”

But other members on the MTA Board recognized the Authority’s tenuous financial situation. Barry Feinstein, an appointee of the governor, noted that the MTA faces a “dog fight” for state funding, and Susan Metzger appreciated the efforts by the MTA to ween itself off of tax windfalls. “This is a very hard decision for all of us too make, and it’s an unpopular one but it’s a first step toward fiscal responsibility,” she said. The MTA, she noted, can no longer turn “a blind eye to our responsiblity to put the MTA on a firm future monetary structure.”

Hikes will go into effect on March 1 for MetroNorth and LIRR riders and March 16 for Bridge and Tunnel users.

Abandon hope, all ye who hate fare hikes. Today, the MTA board’s finance committee voted to approve the fare hike plans. While the full MTA board still has to decide on the hike tomorrow, that vote is all but a formality at this point.

“There is little question that this will be approved, if not unanimously, then virtually unanimously,” MTA Board member Barry Feinstein said to NY1’s transportation guru Bobby Cuza. So start stocking up on Unlimited Ride 30-Day MetroCards. The new fares will most likely go into effect on March 2.

But all is not last in the war for a better subway system. Along with the new fares — and a financial caveat — will come increased bus and subway service during the second half of 2008. William Neuman reports:

Riders would see the first service improvements in June, according to material released on Monday. Some of the changes are relatively small, like shaving one or two minutes from waiting times for evening service on the Nos. 1, 4 and 6 lines. Others add hours of operation to some lines. Operation of the B and W lines on weekdays would be extended to 11 p.m. from 9:30 p.m. Some changes, like an increase in service on the G train, would not begin until next December.

The changes would also create a new bus line, the M13, from the Lower East Side to East Midtown, and would extend the B71 and B77 buses from Brooklyn via the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel into Manhattan, where they would go to South Ferry.

Cuza also notes that the 3 will always run to 148th St., that the R will go to Forest Hills-71st Ave. at all times, and that the 7 will see more weekend service.

According to the MTA, these much-needed service additions will cost at least $16 million in 2008 and $46 million the year after. No matter the price tage, riders along those lines targeted for service should rejoice, and those relying on the B (like me!) should be particularly thrilled by that news.

Of course, there’s one giant IF though. The MTA will implement this increased service plan only if their finances hold through the first three months of 2008. If the debt-laden agency’s economic situation worsens between now and March, riders will be saddled with a higher fare and none of the promised service upgrades. “If those are not now going to go through, you know, I feel a little bit betrayed about the whole thing, and so should the customers,” NYCT Riders Council representative and MTA board Andrew Albert said.

For all the negativity surrounding the fare hike, these service upgrades should soften the blow of the fare hikes. Unsurprisingly, the MTA hasn’t done a great job pushing these service upgrades as a trade-off for the fare hikes. Had they done so, I believe the public would have been more accepting of the hikes.

Photo of the old tokens and a Metrocard by flickr user MacRonin47.