MTA raises train fares

Assemblyman Ryan Karben of Rockland blasted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's decision earlier today to raise fares for the second consecutive year. While the MTA has alleged that the rate increases are needed due to the large budget deficit that it presently faces, Karben said that the agency needs to look at its own administrative and spending practices before looking to the public for help.

"Although this time of year is supposed to be the season of giving, the MTA has instead decided to take away," Karben said, "These fare hikes are quite a holiday present for the people of New York."

The MTA voted to increase the cost of the monthly unlimited MetroCards from $70 to $76; increase the cost of a weekly MetroCard from $21 to $24; raise express bus fares from $4 to $5; increase tolls at major crossings by 25 or 50 cents; and increase commuter rail prices by 5 percent.

"The MTA needs to take a long hard look at itself in the mirror before it turns to the public to clean up its self-imposed monetary mess," Karben said, "Fare hikes have apparently become an annual event at the MTA, and it must end now. These increases are un-fare to New Yorkers."

New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi recently released a report on the MTA 's finances in which he stated that the MTA's $436 million budget gap is the result of its own mismanagement and that the MTA has not taken adequate measures to achieve financial stability. Hevesi estimated that the MTA's budget gap in 2005 will increase to $745 million, and that it will reach $1.4 billion in 2006.

Karben is a member of the Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions which has jurisdiction over the MTA.

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/Karbe ... 6Dec04.htm

Kalikow can't walk three blocks from his office to the MTA building, and I should pay for that? His chief deputy just got a huge raise, and I should pay for that?

This is a joke. If MN ran efficiently and on-time I would have no problem paying more, but they don't. Wait till the big snow storm on Monday...I'm sure it will be a disaster for MN....I will pay for that too.

The MTA is actually the first public transportation agency that I actually hate now, and I'm a big fan of public transportation.

This is simply greed. The MTA needs to be reformed and laws need to be put into place that gives MTA executives a fixed salary. The only increases should be for cost of living.

These b******s that are running it make me so sick. The funny thing is I'm doing some work for them and they are SOOOOOOOOO miserly with everything at the office. You can't make phone calls outside of the five boroughs and they require you to log every phone call outside of the office. One of my co-workers actually got billed 50 cents for making a personal phone call from the office. How the hell can you be this darn tight with money and still raise fares.

Is it possible the city/state can step in and appeal it? This is not right at all. The MTA should not have it both ways; a fare hike and an existing 200 million dollar surplus.

All this said, NYCT causes me to have to rush to my train after work all the time, no matter how early I leave. The more time I give myself to make it over to Grand Central, the less frequent/efficient the subways want to run.

Katie Lapp and the board members can you know what..................

At this point it seems the MTA actually works for New Jersey. The
increases will push more people and jobs out of the MTA's scope.

In terms of rate increases for metro-north. They should not have shafted
the peak commuter. There were other areas that could have been examined.

- Changes in the price of inter zone trips

- Up the fares from the Bronx station into the city, many of them are served by two MTA units ( subway and metro north )

- Making all AM/PM trains peak ( base peak on time not TIME,DIRECTION )
there is a HUGE reverse commute population that gets a big break.
They use the same trains, track , personell , emergency crews and
facilities. As far as I can tell, using the system for about 20 years
the reverse commute gets the same level of service, that is to say I have never heard of a reverse commute train being canceled to be used for the peak direction.

- Expand the peak hours, if you have ever caught the last non-peak train
out of the GCT you will know what I mean.

- I know there are more. It pisses me off when they stick it to the peak
time monthly ticket buying commuter. We're thier cash in the bank cows.

dc700 wrote:
- I know there are more. I pisses me off when they stick it to the peak
time monthly ticket buying commuter. We're thier cash in the bank cows.

These are several good suggestions, but I'd differ with you about the peak hour commuter being the cash cow. In economics terms, you are the marginal variable expense.

MN has a huge infrastructure designed just to haul the morning and evening surges. Absent the rush hour commuter and they could lay off 2/3 of the staff, sell off much of the rolling stock, rip up tracks, etc. Most of their business is only used for 20-25 hours a week and sits empty the rest of the time.

I'd like to see offhour fares set at half the peak fares to build travel when MN has capacity. Get more offhour, business like the Lincoln Tunnel and NJ Turnpike are doing. Wanna travel at 4 am? We've got lots of space and it will cost you $4. Wanna travel at 8 am when we're overloaded? Gonna cost you $6

Lackawanna484 wrote:

dc700 wrote:
- I know there are more. I pisses me off when they stick it to the peak
time monthly ticket buying commuter. We're thier cash in the bank cows.

Its a commuter railroad. Monthy commuters have 5 working days to pay
for their tickets. They last only a calendar month. It's money in the bank
no accounting overhead or security as there is for cash. In many cases
the money comes right out of a credit card. Off peak riders ride when
one direction is of low use. 4am would be a bi-directional off peak time.

I think amtrak showed us that a railroad with no riders is not very profitable.

Metro North is a good railroad, but just like transit, there is room for improvement. The New haven Line's emus are way past their age. I could definately see M-8s. The nice thing is that almost all of their stations, at least the ones serviced a lot are high level. Also, there are four tracks leading into GCT. MN provides plenty of express service and it is the only way to get into the city from many places above the city. Yes, there fares are a bit steep, especially if you live 20 miles north of Grand central.

I want to make it clear that I have the utmost respect for the MN employees, who take far more abuse than deserved.

My gripes are with the MTA Board and Bloomberg, who think NYC should benefit at my expense.

I'm tired of the fare increases every two or so years. Try running things more efficiently before picking my pocket.

Taking the train to Manhattan if you live out of the boroughs is still a helluva lot cheaper than driving! I'd rather pay the MTA than a parking garage anyday...

However, I do think the MTA could make the service a bit better. How about having trains coming straight of the yards in the mornings a bit cleaner... I don't need to see yesterday's newspapers and bagels! And for crying out loud... have the decency to put some soap in the restroom.

Look at Septa, those folks down there are trying to rip you off. Septa has plenty of room for improvement. Next month, I am going down to their turf to railfan.

If you look at the fares its still fairly cheap to use the train.
most straight fares are comparible to mileage allotment for cars, and your savings are not to have to park in New York.
Commuters bitch for months about the fare but have no problems buying a beer in GCT for $4 or a $3.75 pretzel, The water they purchase comes to $6.50 per gallon.
If the railroad needs to keep up with the physical plant and rolling stock it will have to come out of our pockets, don't expect any help from this administration in washington.

The real problem is right at the top. MTA is an autonomous authority stuffed with political bottom feeders who don't know $#@! from shine-ola about trains and buses. They are all appointees. And they are taking all the money from the fares and drinking champagne and smoking cigars in their limos on the way to Sin City!! Now they ran out and need more. >:-{0

MTA is just part of NY state government, a whole system that is broken and needs to be fixed. Now we know who NOT to vote for!!!

My gripes are with the MTA Board and Bloomberg, who think NYC should benefit at my expense.

Bloomberg is against fare hikes. The only board members who voted against raising fares were those that Bloomberg appointed. He wants the MTA to look internally to cut costs.

mncommuter wrote:

My gripes are with the MTA Board and Bloomberg, who think NYC should benefit at my expense.

Bloomberg is against fare hikes. The only board members who voted against raising fares were those that Bloomberg appointed. He wants the MTA to look internally to cut costs.

Bloomberg is against the fare increase of NYC services...but he is for a "commuter tax" at the bridges and tunnels, and MN.

I think a complete housecleaning is in order at the MTA headquarters.
A brand new shop at Harmon to replace existing facilities, cost - a fortune,
classic waste of money. Have they ever heard of modernizing existing
facilities.
The MTA has a tendency to overbuild or build what they do not need. We
got the funds (federal, state or whatever) we must spend these funds
whether it is necessary or not.
I remember when the shop was built at Brewster and first opened up, I
would see the same cars in there every day for a week at a time, don't
think they had many people working in there at that time. I also
remember when the shop was built, it had a jail cell, yes a jail cell but
there were no Metro-North police officers stationed there at that time.
Don't know if there are police there today but I'll bet the jail cell is still
there. I do not know of any other locomotive/car shop facilities that have
jail cells in them.
I also believe they have way too many officials at all levels but probably
especially at the MTA headquarters.
One thing that I think should happen is to re-open Grand Central during the late night hours and run trains between 1:30AM and 5:30AM. Not
necessarily every hour but at least something to get home on during the
night. I do not think that this would result in a significant increase in the
costs of operating the service and they could impose a slight surcharge on
trips during the above night time hours. New York is the "city that never
sleeps", the subways and the Long Island never sleep and Metro-North
should never sleep either.
Noel Weaver