In announcing plans for a looming fare hike, the MTA unveiled a complicated slate of options that featured a wide array of potential outcomes. Some scenarios saw the monthly card jump to $125; others saw the base fare boosted to $2.50 with an elimination of the pay-per-ride discounts. In a way, though, those were red herrings, and as MTA head Joe Lhota made clear today, the contours of the fare hike may be a preordained conclusion.
In an interview with WOR on Monday morning, Lhota expressed his belief that the base fare would rise to $2.50, that the pay-per-ride bonuses would remain at a reduced rate and that unlimited card riders would largely avoid the same steep increases they saw a few years ago. “The base fare will probably go up,” Lhota said, “because if it doesn’t go up, it will have a huge impact on the people who take the monthly pass and use discounted fares. I think we should focus on the middle class. We need to focus on those folks and minimize the increase. The majority of people either take a seven-day pass, a 30-day pass or use the discount pass, and I think we need to focus on how to keep the cost as low as possible for them.”
As The Times subsequently noted, such an increase may spare the middle class but would hit the city’s poorest subway riders harder. Nearly 40 percent of riders earning under $25,000 a year use pay-per-ride cards while only 20 percent of those earning more than $50,000 do. It’s hard to assess the impact though because the count of people using pay-per-ride cards and earning under $25,000 hasn’t been released publicly.
While the ultimate decision is up to the MTA Board and Lhota is but one voice, his is a powerful one. Still, there’s time to shape the debate, and that’s what Crain’s New York is trying to accomplish through its editorial this week:
The question at hand is whether single-ride, multiride or unlimited-ride MetroCards should be favored in the new pricing scheme. Although public hearings have yet to begin, popular sentiment seems to be with multiride cards. Even MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota, who at a recent Crain’s forum had frowned on the 7% discount on these cards, is now suggesting that it only be trimmed, not eliminated.
The thinking is that multiride cards are the most commonly purchased and thus should keep their discount to benefit the greatest number of straphangers. But perhaps they are popular because of the discount. It’s illogical to discount a product because it is popular. The purpose of a fare discount should be to induce transit riders to make decisions that are best for the system and the city.
That’s why unlimited monthly and weekly MetroCards should get the biggest break. They empower and encourage people not only to commute but to shop, to socialize, to consume entertainment—in general, to make the most of our vast and diverse city without adding automobile traffic. Unlimited cards are good for the city’s economy, environment and quality of life. They increase ridership, and expanding mass transit’s constituency will translate into more political support for the MTA.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. But this is just one piece of the puzzle. The 800-pound gorilla in the room concerns state support for transit. As has been noted repeatedly by advocates and the MTA, riders are being asked to foot the bill for more and more of the MTA’s budget while state and city contributions do not increase in turn. If mass transit is a public good, that equation should change. To that end, Stefanie Gray of Transportation Alternatives is going to try to set the record for riding to every subway stop on Tuesday in an effort to raise awareness for the issues of funding. She has Joe Lhota’s blessing, some detailed maps of the system, and a Twitter account worth following. If Gray’s ambitious stunt can bring attention to the matter of funding, perhaps we’ll be better off in a few weeks. At least we can dream.
8 comments
[…] Lhota Says Base Fare Will Probably Rise to $2.50 (NYT, News, SAS) […]
Everyone should expect a quasi-political discussion in every article about which economic class pays for the fare increase but the fact is the 30-day metrocard went from $89 to $104 last time- to raise it again without raising the base fare (thus raising the break-even past 50 and setting new highs is nonsensical).
$2.50 and $112 sound reasonable.
To say city and state support did not increase is to ignore the tax increase for the MTA — the payroll tax.
A more accurate was to put it is that all the increase in taxpayer support is going to pay for the debts as a result of the previous cut off of taxpayer support. And it still isn’t enough, because the hole is so deep.
The are talking about spreading the pain from the past. If you don’t talk about the past and who took how much in benefits, you aren’t in a position to talk about fairness today.
I don’t see the NYS legislators, the 1’s who represent poor people, doing much to help. All they do is whine and complain about the MTA. Meanwhile, they’re the people who are responsible for it.
This is some system we’ve got going here…
The system is working as designed, to take the heat off the pols.
Other than taking the brunt of the increase last time, there is a case for relatively sparing the unlimited cards this time since the unlimited purchasers probably have the least discretion over whether and how often they use the system.
I suspect that the majority of unlimited card purchasers are commuters, who use the subway at least thirty times a month, whether they like it or not, to get to the jobs that supply them with the money to pay for their rent or mortgages, and other things such as the MTA fares. Much of the rest are people who live in places where abandoning the system and getting a car or a bike instead is not feasible for one reason or the other (essentially, people who live in lower and central Manhattan). So any scheme to hit unlimited card holders are hitting the people who have the least discretion over how much they use transportation.
There is also the matter that the unlimited cars also relatively promote usage at off-peak times, and that pay-per-rides are used relatively more by tourists who we agree we want to soak, and at any rate are not likely to abandon the system and start traveling around the city by car.
It was suggested here that the MTA come up with some sort of commuter discount, and I agree with that, but since that is not in place now any relative price discount for the unlimited cards is the commuter discount. And the working poor commute too, btw.
What do you mean people who live in lower and central Manhattan can’t get a bike? They certainly can! Truth be told, they can WALK around Manhattan, as Manhattan isn’t a big place. I’ve walked from midtown to downtown, and I often walk from midtown to the lower east side when I do show up in Manhattan.
If a job isn’t paying you a lot of money, you might look for work close to home.
Sure, they can walk around Manhattan, but that takes a lot of time. Plus, not everyone is able-bodied enough to bike around, let alone walk around Manhattan.
Also, not everyone has the luxury of having jobs near their residence – jobs are still overwhelmingly concentrated in Manhattan compared to the outer boroughs.