Fare Hikes
Streetsblog Basics
New Survey: 84% of Transit Agencies Facing Fare Hikes, Service Cuts
Budget shortfalls exacerbated by the lingering recession have forced 84 percent of local transit agencies to hike fares, cut service, or begin considering one or both of those options since the beginning of 2009, according to a report released yesterday by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
April 2, 2010
Fare Hike 2010: Your Chance to Prop Up Albany
Straphangers, are you ready to subsidize the runaway state budget?
March 12, 2010
The Truth About Student Fares: MTA a Huge Bargain for State and City
A new round of MTA Board hearings gets started this week, and the biggest flashpoint is sure to be the student MetroCard program. New York City school children depend on free and reduced fares, especially since education reforms have led more students to attend schools farther from home. Yet the state has withdrawn funding for the program and the city has allowed its contribution to remain flat since 1995.
March 1, 2010
Twenty-One NYC Reps Back Brodsky’s Student Fare Falsehood
On Friday we noted that Assembly Member Richard Brodsky's latest anti-transit argument -- that "the actual cost of free and discounted student fares is close to zero" -- doesn't hold water. A letter from Brodsky addressed to MTA CEO Jay Walder calls for reinstating student MetroCards, laying blame for the program's potential elimination at the MTA's feet while neglecting to mention Albany's leading role in reducing funds for student transport.
February 22, 2010
Congestion Pricing Can Help Save Working NYC Families $2,300 Per Year
Without bold action from legislators to fund transit, middle-class New York families will have to spend $2,300 more per year
to get around the city even as the quality of the service they're
paying for declines, according to a new analysis released today by John Petro of the Drum Major Institute.
February 16, 2010
More Bad News for Transit Funding: Payroll Tax Comes Up Lame Again
The MTA’s budget picture took another turn for the worse today. The payroll tax instituted as part of last year’s funding package continues to raise far less revenue than expected. Which means that even if the extensive service cuts on the table take effect, the MTA will still have to deal with a $400 million … Continued
February 3, 2010
Transit Fare Inflation Hitting Health Insurance-Like Levels?
That's the implication buried in a roundup of dismal news from urban transit agencies that ran in Saturday's Wall Street Journal. After noting the overall ridership decreases tallied by APTA and the specter of punitive service cuts in many cities, the newspaper noted:
January 5, 2010
Transit Cuts Report Underscores Cities’ Congressional Influence
In a report released this morning, Transportation for America (T4A) expands on its months-long effort to map transit cutbacks across the nation and concludes that 10 of the largest 25 local agencies are being forced to hike fares by more than 13 percent.
August 18, 2009
Transit Riders to Albany: Get to Work on a Real MTA Solution
Yesterday's rally in Union Square drew hundreds of transit riders calling on the State Senate and Albany leaders to enact a long-term solution for the MTA's enormous funding shortfall. Judging by the cheering sections in the audience, most of the crowd was mobilized by the Facebook group "1,000,000 People Against the NYC MTA Fare Hike" and Transportation Alternatives. The Working Families Party, the event sponsor with the most political muscle, sent one representative but no speaker or even a display table for gathering signatures.
April 29, 2009
Time for Working Families Party to Step Up for Riders, Endorse Bridge Tolls
Here's another wake-up call for state legislators dithering over a transit funding package: The sinking economy continues to choke off revenues for New York City's subways and buses. The MTA finance committee announced this afternoon that the agency's budget gap is $621 million bigger than previously forecast. That's on top of the $1.2 billion hole that brought about the imminent doomsday fare hike and service cuts. The culprit? Plummeting revenue from dedicated taxes, fares, and tolls.
April 27, 2009