MTA Fare Hikes

[RDU-JFK]

I'm sick of them! Proposed fare hikes of $2.25 look like they're going to happen for buses and subways. Enough already!

One thing that also drives me crazy is the fact that you can't use an unlimited Metrocard on the PATH train. It's only $1.50. Just give us the option at least so those of us who take both the subway and PATH to get to work have the option!!

And this fare hike comes after that surplus a few years ago. And the December MTA strike is still in my mind. I hate the MTA.

[Matt Molnar]

Yep, sucks. On the bright side the hike on unlimiteds is only going to be about 4%, which is pretty reasonable. I wouldn't mind if it went up 30% if it meant better service.

[T-Bird76]

Does this hike include the LIRR? If so that will blow, the LIRR is already to much money into Penn.

[RDU-JFK]

From the Straphangers Website:
Subway And Bus Fare Could Go To $2.40 by 2010,
New York City Independent Budget Office Forecasts

30-Day MetroCard Could Go From $76 to $92,
As MTA Faces Large and Mounting Deficits

Base Fare Could Go to $3.00 by 2010 and 30-Day MetroCard to $112
Without Any New State Aid

Commuter Rail Road Fares Also Likely To Rise

Straphangers Campaign Calls on Governor Spitzer for Help;
Urges Him to Push Hard for Congestion Pricing
______________________________________________

Looks like everything is on the rise, it's just not known how much on the LIRR and Metro-North. They are proposing off-peak subway discounts of "only" $2.00

[adam613]

The MTA has got to be the most mis-managed organization in our entire "local" government. And congestion pricing, in all its progressive taxation beauty, isn't going to help that.

[PhilDernerJr]

funny...these things keep going up, yet I don't think any of our salaries are going up accordingly. Isn't that something that these guys think about?

They can't manage a budget so they just brush the cost off onto us.

[T-Bird76]

funny...these things keep going up, yet I don't think any of our salaries are going up accordingly. Isn't that something that these guys think about?

They can't manage a budget so they just brush the cost off onto us.

Well not even the salary thing Phil but the dam service! The LIRR has taken away service after service after service but keeps raisings fares. Its getting out of hand. I don't mind paying more but give us something in return.

[Idlewild]

The fare should be down to fifty cents, a dollar at most. NYC brings in a ton of tax revenue for NYC, NYS and the Fed. The subways should be subsidized. NYC has too many working class and below working class families where $12.25 min, per person for subway fare will hurt their wallets. In between the now proposed 17+% Con Ed rate hike, the new water bill hike (which kills me because Bloomberg himself said it's going up because deadbeats won't pay), heating oil/cooking gas hikes as well as property tax hikes being likely...it's insane. This City is the most mismanaged and corrupt I have seen next to New Orleans and Bogota.

[Matt Molnar]

For a great example of LIRR's mismanagement, take a look at the newly released report Assessment of the Condition of the MTA Long Island Rail Road. It's a fascinating read written by the former boss of Metro-North, Donald Nelson, who the LIRR hired as an "independent consultant" to help determine how they could run the railroad less suckily, sort of like Metro-North I guess. Of course his credibility only lasts until the second paragraph of the 51 page report when he writes this:

The infrastructure of the railroad is probably in better condition now
than ever in its history, except for the signal system, major structures, such as
viaducts and tunnels, and many stations. Several of these exceptions are slated for
rehabilitation in ongoing projects, or future capital programs.

This is like saying a car is great except for the engine, transmission and brakes, but it has a new paint job.

Possibly the greatest tidbit in the report is his description of the Morris Park shop, which is responsible for maintenance of the diesel fleet. First of all, the oldest diesel in passenger service is only 10 years old, but they are constantly breaking down, with a Mean Distance Between Failure (MDBF) of under 15,000 miles, and the target is only a very liberal 30,000 miles. These locomotives were specially designed for ease of maintenance...they have all their mechanical equipment on a single "skid" which can be removed and swapped quickly in the event something breaks. For example, if a cylinder fails and requires a rebuild, they could pull the train into the shop, lift out the skid, swap in a spare one and put the train back into service within a few hours, and perform the repairs without requiring the locomotive to actually be there. Brilliant idea except for one thing...when they bought these 45 locomotives, THEY DIDN'T BUY THE CRANES NEEDED TO LIFT OUT THE SKIDS, thereby making this special design worthless. If that wasn't enough, the shop's computers are still running WINDOWS 3.1!!!

Another fun fact, the LIRR's fleet of new M7 electric cars has a MDBF of about 289,000 miles, while Metro-North's fleet of M7A's, which is essentially the same train, run 551,000 miles without a breakdown.

The city government is bad but much better today than it was before Giuliani and Bloomberg. Our friends in Albany, however, practically wrote the book on corruption about 160 years ago and not much has changed since. And they more or less control the MTA.

[hiss srq]

I do not take the train all too often but when I do it is expensive. I might as well take the car to Manhatten as it is. When do they make a decision on the hike?

[nikon50bigma]

I take the bus and train to school on Staten Island for the past three years.
The MTA busses are constantly off schedule and running late.
They really don't deserve the fare raise.