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MTA's Plan to Axe Unlimited Cards Faces Public Fury Tonight
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 13, 2010
Modified Sep 13, 2010
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Jen Chung/Gothamist
By
John Del Signore
Published Sep 13, 2010
Modified Sep 13, 2010
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Tonight's the first of 9 public hearings being held by the MTA board on the matter of the proposed fare hikes. In order to increase fares and tolls by 7.5%, the board is considering a variety of cuts; the most controversial of these would be the elimination of the Unlimited ride MetroCard. This would max out a monthly "unlimited" card at 90 trips, and put a cap of 21 rides on weekly "unlimited" cards. To recap, here are the other changes being proposed:
- Raising the monthly MetroCard from $89 to $99
- Raising the weekly MetroCard from $27 to $29
- Increasing single-ride paper subway tickets to $2.50
- Charging a dollar for a new card when customers don’t refill old ones.
- Close dozens of subway booths, costing more than 200 workers their jobs.
As an alternative to the limited "capped" weekly and monthly cards, the MTA may also offer a monthly Unlimited card for $130, and a 7-Day Unlimited card for $38. According to Second Avenue Sagas, "It isn’t a Doomsday scenario, but it’s a big blow to the psyche of New York’s straphangers long used to riding the rails as often as they want for under $100 a month." But Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign tells the Daily News he suspects the threat of a $130 monthly fare is just a ploy to make a compromise hike seem more palatable. "I don't consider the $130 a real number," says Russianoff.
Tonight's hearing takes place in The Great Hall at Cooper Union; all hearings begin at 6 p.m. Registration opens at 5 p.m. and closes at 9 p.m.; all registered speakers will be heard. The full list of hearing locations is below:
Monday, September 13
The Cooper Union — The Great Hall
7 East 7th Street at Third Avenue
Manhattan
Hilton Garden Inn
15 Crossroads Court
Newburgh, Orange County
Wednesday, September 15
Hostos Community College — (CUNY) Main Theater
450 Grand Concourse
Bronx
Thursday, September 16
St. George Theatre
35 Hyatt Street
Staten Island
The Garden City Hotel
45 Seventh Street
Garden City, Nassau
Monday, September 20
Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel
135-20 39th Avenue
Flushing, Queens
Suffolk County Legislature
725 Veterans Memorial Highway
Smithtown, Suffolk
Tuesday, September 21
White Plains Performing Arts Center
11 City Place, 3rd Floor City Center
White Plains, Westchester
Brooklyn Museum — Cantor Auditorium
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn
Tagged
fare hike
MTA
nyc transit
subway
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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