Fares for the Long Island Rail Road and city subways and buses will not be increased this month, MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye announced late Monday night.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked economic havoc – devastating the MTA’s ridership and revenues and bringing them to levels far worse than the Great Depression,” Foye said in a statement. “It has also hit people of color and low-income communities hardest, many of whom are the very same essential workers that have been on the frontlines of this crisis and who are also most dependent on mass transit.”
Talk of fare increases has persisted since November, and in eight public hearings held by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in December, the authority was hit with criticism for planning a fare hike in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli saying the agency would require $12 billion in federal aid to make up for roughly the same amount of lost revenue in 2020.
As part of the plan, monthly tickets on the Long Island Rail Road would have increased to $182 within the City Zone, $318 for Suburban-City travel, and $192.50 within the Suburban Zone; weekly tickets to $58.25 within the City Zone, $101.75 for Suburban-City travel, and $59.75 within the Suburban Zone; and one-way tickets to $8.25 within the City Zone, $14.50 for Suburban-City travel, and $7.25 within the Suburban Zone. Numerous other price changes across the authority were also proposed.
“As part of our biennial review of fare and toll policy, the MTA conducted the unprecedented level of outreach this year required, holding eight public hearings and receiving 2,100 public comments,” Foye said. “What we heard at these hearings was that people are suffering and cannot shoulder even a modest fare increase right now.”
The authority’s 2021 budget also included a 50 percent reduction in LIRR service and a “drastic reduction” to the agency’s workforce due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Buoyed by President-elect Biden, incoming Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the MTA also has hope for $8 billion in additional pandemic relief and continued federal investment in mass transit in 2021 and beyond,” Foye said. “For these reasons, the MTA has decided to postpone the planned fare increase for several months.”
He said that talks and a vote on the increases would continue next month.
“We plan to move forward with a discussion and vote on recommended toll changes in February,” Foye said.
