MTA's 4% fare and toll hikes could be delayed until next year, chair says

A planned fare and toll hike that would have driven up the cost of a Long Island Rail Road ticket by 4% may be put off until next year, according to the chairman of the MTA.

Responding to a reporter’s question at a Queens news conference, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman and CEO Janno Lieber said the MTA is "thinking of eliminating the complexity" of asking riders to change how much they pay at the same time it's asking them to change how they pay, as it phases out the MetroCard.

The MTA is in the middle of transitioning away from its 30-year-old MetroCard to its new OMNY system, which allows customers to pay for trips with the tap of a phone or fare card. The MTA plans to sell its final MetroCard on Dec. 31, but Lieber has said riders will still be able to swipe the cards at subway turnstiles or dip them in buses for at least six months.

Following a pattern begun 15 years ago of raising rates every other year, the MTA Board in December advanced a plan to increase fare and toll revenue by 4% in 2025.

Based on past precedent, the MTA was expected to hold public hearings in the spring and, following board approval, enact the new rates in August.

But the MTA has yet to even propose specific new rates, leading reporters to ask about the status of the plan at a Wednesday board meeting. Lieber said then that the MTA would begin the process "sometime later in the year," but confirmed it would not get done by August.

On Thursday, Lieber said the concern about adjusting fares at the same time the MTA is trying to roll out a new fare system "is a real one." He said a delay of the rate increase would have to go through the MTA Board.

Danny Pearlstein, spokesman for the Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group, cheered a potential postponement of the next fare hike, noting that there are several issues to resolve before then, including expanding low-income eligibility requirements for reduced fares, and allowing OMNY customers to tap their phones or fare cards at both front and rear bus doors.

"Not only does it make sense to wait for the OMNY transition, but riders should get the full benefit of OMNY, with the option to board through every door of every bus," Pearlstein said.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.