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AirTrain fare increases to $8.25 due to 'inflation'
By
Elizabeth Shwe
Published Mar 5, 2023
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Sergi Reboredo/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
By
Elizabeth Shwe
Published Mar 5, 2023
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AirTrain fare to JFK Airport and Newark Airport increased from $8 to $8.25 on Sunday.
The Port Authority said the fare increase was automatically triggered by inflation.
“This budget makes the most of our efforts to recover the $3 billion of lost revenues that the agency experienced during the first two years of COVID, and emerge as a leaner, more efficient operation,” Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in a statement. “Our 2023 budget acknowledges the difficult economic environment that we all face, while providing the necessary resources to maintain, improve and grow our assets responsibly to the benefit of the entire region.”
The increase comes after AirTrain fares also rose a quarter to $8 last year, also due to inflation, according to the Port Authority.
AirTrains also do not accept OMNY - a contactless fare payment system for public transportation in New York - and only accept MetroCards, adding $1 for those who need to purchase a new one.
One transit advocate said fare hikes should be eliminated because it discouragers passengers from taking public transportation to the airport.
“Governor Hochul should encourage air travelers to ride transit to JFK Airport. A fare hike, whether on the subway or AirTrain, does just the opposite,” said Danny Pearlstein, a spokesperson for Riders Alliance, an advocacy group for affordable and reliable public transit in New York. "Just the fact that there's an AirTrain fare at all, and no free transfer to the bus, subway, or Long Island Rail Road, particularly while the state is undertaking a multibillion-dollar highway expansion cutting through Jamaica to JFK, says so much about our inequitable and inefficient transportation policy in New York.”
Inflation also triggered $1 increases in tolls at tunnels and bridges, but PATH train fares are staying the same, according to the Port Authority.
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Elizabeth Shwe
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