Riding the Long Island Rail Road will likely get more expensive next year as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans a fare hike across its transit systems.
The projected 4 percent overall increase follows the MTA’s plan to raise fares and tolls every two years to keep up with inflation and expense increases, according to the 2017 MTA preliminary budget. The authority plans to collect about $737.4 million from LIRR fares next year, about $24.3 million more than expected for 2016.
Any hikes would take effect March 1 after public hearings and a final decision by the MTA board, Bob Foran, the MTA’s chief financial officer, said at the July 27 board meeting.
“Before we put in place a fare and toll increase, it has to be studied by staff, recommendations made to the board for how it would be structured,” Foran said.
Proposed LIRR fare hikes will vary for commuters because the railroad charges different rates depending on the time and distance of the trip, the MTA says.
The MTA expects to see an extra $50 million in annual savings starting next year and have balanced budgets through 2019, but a $371 million deficit is projected for 2020, the budget says.
The authority’s “financial situation will quickly deteriorate” without the planned growth in fare revenue, the budget says. The MTA also gets revenue from taxes and state and local subsidies.
The $8.1 billion the MTA plans to collect in fares and tolls next year covers about half its operating costs — nearly $15.7 billion — and about a third of all costs including capital expenses, according to the budget.
LIRR trips to the North Fork, Fire Island and the Hamptons will likely get easier in coming years as part of $36 million in new service included in the MTA’s four-year financial plan.
The railroad plans to run weekend trains to the North Fork year-round and will add trains to connect with Fire Island ferries in the summer, an effort to reduce congestion on trains to the Hamptons, the MTA says.
The LIRR also plans to repair and replace seat covers on its single- and double-decker trains and speed up the expansion of its West Side train yard, the MTA says.
The MTA’s financial plan also estimates a design for the expansion of the LIRR’s Port Washington train yard will be complete by May 2018 at a cost of $500,000.
Design work has not yet started for the project, which the LIRR announced in 2013.
Reach reporter Noah Manskar by e-mail at nmanskar@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @noahmanskar and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
