Rail hike is fare game
$84 monthly pass in the MetroCards
BY DAVID EPSTEIN
and PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Get ready for some more train pain: The price of monthly MetroCards soon could rise to $84 - a whopping $14 increase, the MTA revealed yesterday.
Transit officials have been warning for months that fare hikes are on tap for next year.
In July, they said the monthly cards could go from $70 to $76, but cautioned that was the low-end figure.
Documents released yesterday put the top hike number at $84 - the amount the authority says would be needed to help stave off service cuts.
Straphangers, who were socked with a fare hike last year, were shocked by the latest potential wallet-buster.
"It's getting ridiculous," said John Kill, 50, a preacher from Staten Island. "They are driving people out of the city. It makes me angry."
Imam Arbab, 54, a newspaper vendor who lives in Brooklyn, said he cannot afford such a huge hike.
"I just can't pay that," he said. "I will probably have to get another job."
The documents released by transit officials also offered these nuggets of bad news:
The one-day unlimited MetroCard could go up $1 to $8.
The 7-Day Express Bus-Plus MetroCard could increase by as much as $17 to $50.
One-way tickets to or from Manhattan on the Long Island Rail Road could rise by as much as 20%. One-way trips on Metro-North Railroad could jump by 14%.
If that's not bad enough, officials said yesterday they may eliminate - just in time for the holidays - weekend fare reductions for travel within the city on the LIRR and Metro-North.
Since January, weekend commuter rail riders have paid $2.50 for trips within city limits. That's well below even off-peak fares, which run as high as $5.25.
Commuter advocates and MTA officials agree that the agency faces big budget problems and needs more money from the state.
Otherwise, the system could be whacked with devastating service cuts and could slip back into the days of disrepair and frequent train breakdowns.
Huge budget deficits are due, in part, to rising costs, such as pension, health care and debt payments to pay for past borrowing, officials have said.
$84 monthly pass in the MetroCards
BY DAVID EPSTEIN
and PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Get ready for some more train pain: The price of monthly MetroCards soon could rise to $84 - a whopping $14 increase, the MTA revealed yesterday.
Transit officials have been warning for months that fare hikes are on tap for next year.
In July, they said the monthly cards could go from $70 to $76, but cautioned that was the low-end figure.
Documents released yesterday put the top hike number at $84 - the amount the authority says would be needed to help stave off service cuts.
Straphangers, who were socked with a fare hike last year, were shocked by the latest potential wallet-buster.
"It's getting ridiculous," said John Kill, 50, a preacher from Staten Island. "They are driving people out of the city. It makes me angry."
Imam Arbab, 54, a newspaper vendor who lives in Brooklyn, said he cannot afford such a huge hike.
"I just can't pay that," he said. "I will probably have to get another job."
The documents released by transit officials also offered these nuggets of bad news:
The one-day unlimited MetroCard could go up $1 to $8.
The 7-Day Express Bus-Plus MetroCard could increase by as much as $17 to $50.
One-way tickets to or from Manhattan on the Long Island Rail Road could rise by as much as 20%. One-way trips on Metro-North Railroad could jump by 14%.
If that's not bad enough, officials said yesterday they may eliminate - just in time for the holidays - weekend fare reductions for travel within the city on the LIRR and Metro-North.
Since January, weekend commuter rail riders have paid $2.50 for trips within city limits. That's well below even off-peak fares, which run as high as $5.25.
Commuter advocates and MTA officials agree that the agency faces big budget problems and needs more money from the state.
Otherwise, the system could be whacked with devastating service cuts and could slip back into the days of disrepair and frequent train breakdowns.
Huge budget deficits are due, in part, to rising costs, such as pension, health care and debt payments to pay for past borrowing, officials have said.
