Student discount fight continues with express bus move

Earlier today, a Pete Donohue article in the Daily News probably raised a few eyebrows. Donohue notes that the MTA is eliminating student discounts on some express bus routes.

Hundreds of city students from the outer boroughs will have to choose between paying more to commute to school in Manhattan this fall or using a longer route. As part of this summer’s fare hikes, the MTA quietly cancelled the discount on the express buses that gave students half off…The student fare will rise to $5.50 per trip from $2.50.

“It’s pretty upsetting,” said Daniel Masterson, 15, who gets in a morning nap on his hour and 15-minute commute from City Island in the Bronx to Beacon High School in Manhattan. “To me it’s going be a really big inconvenience.”

For the more than 800 kids who took advantage of the express bus discount on the average school day from September to May, the increased fare will add up. Jeffrey Levine, 48, a social worker whose two daughters will commute this fall from Throgs Neck to the Saint Vincent Ferrer school, will endure a $120 weekly increase. “It’s going to be hard on my family affording full fare,” Levine said.

You get the point. According to MTA officials, this hike will impact just 36 percent of Outer Borough express bus routes and is designed to align fares on express buses across the city. “This was an anomaly, and it’s being brought into consistency,” MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin said to Donohue.

Politicians, meanwhile, are going through the motions. “We have many students in the outer boroughs who do not live near trains, and they depend on express buses to go to school,” Councilman James Vacca from the Bronx said. “They’re not a luxury they’ve become a necessity. … There is still time for the MTA to reconsider.”

But it’s not that simple. While this is just conjecture on my part, this move by the MTA is part of a long-term battle the agency has fought against the city for adequate student compensation. As I reported back in August 2007, the city does not pay enough for Student MetroCards. According to a two-year-old comptroller’s report, the MTA was routinely providing over $70 million a year in free commutes for students because the city doesn’t pony up the money.

Considering the state of its economy, the MTA should be bringing all express bus fares in line across the service area. If the city wants its students to enjoy subsidized commutes, then the city should pay for those commutes. Facing a financial crunch, the MTA should not be expected to offer free rides to students just because.