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MTA Says A Single Swipe Will Likely Jump To $3 In 2017
By
Raphael Pope-Sussman
Published Nov 16, 2016
Modified Nov 16, 2016
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By
Raphael Pope-Sussman
Published Nov 16, 2016
Modified Nov 16, 2016
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The MTA presented its November financial plan Wednesday, and it looks like fares and tolls across the entire system are likely to increase by four percent in 2017.
The increase would bump the the cost of a single MetroCard swipe from $2.75 to $3.00.
At a public board meeting, MTA Chief Financial Officer Robert Foran reviewed the MTA’s current financials, explaining that while the general outlook has improved since the board’s July forecast, the authority must keep biennial fare increases in place.
According the financial plan, a range of factors including lower debt service and electricity cost reductions add up to a projected $500 million in savings between 2017-2020.
In July, the MTA announced it was considering the four percent increase. At the time, Foran explained Wednesday, that four percent figure represented a target yield for the authority—that is, the amount of increased revenue it sought to bring in with a hike. In order to achieve that goal, the authority would have needed to increase fares by more than four percent, to account for a potential drop in ridership (or road usage) due to the higher price of a fare (or toll). With the sunnier outlook, though, the authority now says it would be satisfied with a four percent fare increase, full stop.
MTA Director of Strategic Initiatives Fredericka Cuenca reviewed how increases would impact the different pricing options for MetroCards. Currently, a single ride costs $2.75, but commuters who purchase a MetroCard with $5.50 in value (aka two rides) or greater receive an 11 percent fare "bonus." At that rate, the effective cost of a fare is $2.48.
The fair increase options presented would involve either increasing the standard fare to $3.00, but increasing the two-or-more-ride bonus to 16 percent, such that the effective cost of a fare would be $2.59. (Increasing fares by fractions of a quarter isn’t on the table, so this discounted fare is how they get to the 4 percent figure.)
The other option would involve leaving the cost of a single fare in place, but slashing the fare bonus to 5 percent. That would make the effective fare for all but single-rides $2.62—so a little bit higher.
MTA Board Member David Jones, who leads the Community Service Society of New York, expressed concern at the meeting that these changes would disproportionately impact low-income New Yorkers, who are the most frequent users of the single-ride options.
"Low income people are in the least advantageous area of the fare category," he said. The 25 cent jump would represent an 11 percent cost increase for people in that demographic. "It seems like we’re tilting again," he said, referring to the cost advantages the MTA gives for larger purchases, like the fare bonus or the per-fare discount available for holders of weekly or monthly passes.
Jones said that the potential fare hike intensifies the need for reduced-fare MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers, an option that’s being pushed by transit advocates.
In response to the announcement of the proposed fare hikes, the Community Service Society and the Riders Alliance issued a joint press release calling upon Mayor Bill de Blasio to back the reduced-fare proposal.
"Fare hikes are a burden on everyone, but are especially hard for low-income New Yorkers. While we push for greater investment from Albany to keep our subways and buses running, our Mayor has a unique opportunity to help hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers who are currently locked out of job opportunities, affordable housing, and community life in New York City," said Rebecca Bailin, campaign manager at the Riders Alliance.
Cuenca said the proposed increase would be the lowest since the MTA implemented biennial toll and fare increases in 2009.
According to MTA CEO Thomas Prendergast, the MTA has sliced $1.6 billion off its annual operating budget, a figure he said he hopes to get up to $2 billion annually in 2020. But he warned that the agency would continue to seek savings.
"The MTA continues to keep its promise to make sure that fare and toll increases, while necessary to keep our system running, remain as low and possible and that they are done in as equitable a way as possible,” Prendergast said.
Fares continue to rise even as service gets crappier. MTA data from August shows that the agency is missing its 2016 performance targets in almost every major category.
(Foran pointed to improvements like the 7 Extension and the Fulton Street Transit Center, and the theoretically soon-to-arrive Second Avenue Subway as proof the MTA is putting its money toward improving commuters’ lives.)
Under both proposed plans, a 30-day MetroCard would go up to $121 from $116.50.
The MTA will accept public comment on the financial plan in November and will hold public hearings in December. The board will hold its final vote on the fare hikes in January.
Tagged
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MTA
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Raphael Pope-Sussman
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