Let’s start with an unpopular premise: The fares for the New York City subways are far too low, and they’re kept at low levels artificially by politicians looking to curry favors with voters.
This isn’t the first time we’ve delved into the philosophy of subway fares. In November, I discussed how a five-cent fare long [...]
MTA officials gathered today for a pivotal board meeting today in which the preliminary budget went under the microscope. In short, the MTA plans to cut costs and workers while raising the fares and requesting more government money to cover a crushing $900-million deficit. Fare hikes are inevitable.
City Room succinctly sums up why [...]
As the MTA Board debates the financial future of the transit agency and the possibility of an upcoming fare hike — the second in two years — New York politicians and newspapers are sounding off on this hot-button issue. Let’s take a look at what everyone is saying.
We start with Mayor Bloomberg. In a [...]
The MTA, in an effort to close a projected budget gap of nearly $900 million, plans to raise mass transit fare revenues in and around New York City by as much as eight percent in 2009. This increase — the second in two years — would mark just the second time in subway history [...]
Here’s the breaking news: The MTA will seek what The Times is calling substantial fare hikes in 2009. This will be just the second time in history that the MTA will seek to raise the fares in consecutive years. More on this breaking — and dismaying — news later.
Ah, December. Remember how enthusiastic and naïve we were when the MTA told us that along with the fare hike, New Yorkers would enjoy much-needed service upgrades as well? Those were the days.
Just three months after announcing that the service upgrades were to be postponed, the MTA has shelved them entirely due to dire [...]
At the end of last week on a Friday during the summer, a few anonymous MTA officials dropped a story on Pete Donohue. The MTA, they said, is not-so-quietly considering a fare hike for 2009 to meet operating budget deficits that will exceed tens of millions of dollars.
On Wednesday, with MTA CEO and Executive [...]
Much like every other straphanger in the New York area, the Daily News editorial board isn’t too thrilled with the news that another fare hike may head our way next year. The board issues a stridently worded editorial blasting MTA Chair Dale Hemmerdinger and CEO Lee Sander for breaking their fare hike and fiscal promises.
Take [...]
I bet you didn’t see this one coming: According to transit experts and sources at the MTA, New Yorkers may be in store for a second fare hike in two years come 2009 if the authority doesn’t come up with some money stat. It would be just the second time in city history that [...]
When the MTA introduced the new fare scheme and new 15 percent bonus system in March, the authority also revamped their prepackaged MetroCard program. Chief among the new pre-paid options were two pay-per-ride cards — one for the odd total of $17.39 and the other for the off-kilter sum of $52.17.
When a Racked reader [...]
