M.T.A. Approves Transit Fare Increases

Updated, 11:31 a.m. | The board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted 12 to 2 this morning to approve a package of fare increases for its subways, buses and commuter railroads, the third time in three years that New Yorkers face a stiff rise in the cost of getting around.

The unlimited 7-day and 30-day MetroCards for the city’s subway and bus system will remain unlimited, as the board rejected a proposal to cap the number of rides they are valid for. But the price of the passes will jump significantly. On Dec. 30, when the increases take effect, a 30-day unlimited card will cost $104, up from $89, a 17 percent increase, while an unlimited weekly pass will cost $29, up from $27. Single rides will rise 25 cents to $2.50.

The pricing regime places the biggest burden of the increases on the system’s most frequent riders, the third of straphangers who use 30-day passes. Transit officials said this action was fair, because that group also tends to be more affluent than other riders, according to the authority’s survey data.

But some board member at Thursday’s meeting objected. “This fare plan hits our best customers with the heftiest fare hike,” Andrew Albert, a nonvoting board member and chairman of the New York City Transit Riders Council, said shortly before the vote. “We should be rewarding our best customers.”

On the authority’s railroads, tickets on the Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road, depending on distance, will rise 7 to 14 percent. And a $1 surcharge will be levied on riders who buy a new MetroCard rather than adding money to an older one.

The board members who voted against the increases were Norman I. Seabrook, president of the city correction officers’ union and a 2006 appointee of Gov. George E. Pataki; and Patrick J. Foye, a deputy county executive in Nassau County appointed at the recommendation of the county executive, Edward P. Mangano, in May.

Each said the increases could not be justified in the wake of the recent service cuts.

Over all, the fare increases are intended to generate 7.5 percent more revenue for the troubled transportation authority, which significantly cut transit services this year to close a yawning budget cap, brought on by depressed tax revenue and a cut in state financing. The board previously agreed to a 7.5 percent fare increase last year.

Mr. Albert echoed other remarks on Thursday when he expressed dismay that the authority was raising fares after instituting a severe set of service cuts over the summer. “Riders are being asked to pick up an inordinate amount of the slack,” Mr. Albert said. “This one comes on the heels of the worst service decreases in years. Higher fares and service cuts are a lose-lose for riders.”

But the authority’s bleak financial pressures all but ensured that the higher fares would go through. “We are not in a position to be able to avoid this increase,” said Jay H. Walder, the authority’s chairman, as the board prepared to vote.

If the increases are approved, the price of a monthly MetroCard will have risen 65 percent in 12 years, far outpacing inflation. The 30-day pass cost $63 a month when it was introduced in 1998.

A toll increase on the authority’s nine tunnels and bridges was also proposed, but the board will not vote on that plan until Oct. 27. Drivers who pay cash potentially face an increase of 30 percent or higher, while E-ZPass drivers may not pay any increase at all, under a proposal gaining momentum on the board.