No more peak fares on the LIRR for the rest of '21, MTA says

The MTA is vowing not to bring back peak fares on the Long Island Rail Road for the rest of 2021, one way it's trying to win back lapsed rail commuters.

The measures to lure riders back come as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority sees big gains in ridership in recent days, including new pandemic-era records on the LIRR and New York City subways.

To continue to promote usage of the transit system, MTA officials announced this week that the LIRR will continue charging off-peak fares at all times for the remainder of the year. The railroad, which typically charges around 27% more for trips made during the busiest travel times on weekdays, suspended the higher "peak" pricing around the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020.

The smaller ticket prices combined with smaller ridership — still down about 50% compared with pre-pandemic levels — has cost the railroad substantially. Fare revenue was down 77% in 2020 compared with the previous year. Through July of this year, the LIRR collected about $140 million in fares — about $300 million less than in the first seven months of 2019.

"We want to incentivize people to come back, especially people who are accustomed to commuting," acting MTA chairman and Chief Executive Officer Janno Lieber said during his first board meeting Wednesday at the agency’s helm. "That would lead us to focus on people who traveled in the peak period. That’s why continuing off-peak fares is such an incentive for what we call, for the lack of a better term, the lapsed riders — people who used to travel, who used to commute on a regular basis who are not."

In another attempt to attract former commuters who may be reluctant to return to the system, the MTA also announced it is launching a public outreach campaign that looks to highlight some of the benefits of taking the train to work, including helping address climate change my reducing auto emissions, and having more time to yourself.

One ad in the campaign depicts a railroad commuter using a tablet, next to the message, "Train time is you time."

"We . . . want to talk about how the commute is not just something to be tolerated, but actually has a lot of benefits on its own," said MTA creative director Joe Chan. "Lots of us who have been working from home know that, sometimes, escaping from home is rather nice."

The LIRR on Friday carried 150,895 customers — the most since the public health crisis began. Subways, too, have seen a rebound. On Tuesday they transported 2.92 million riders, 150,000 more than their previous pandemic record, also set Friday.

Weekend ridership is back to around 82% of 2019 levels.

In the spring of 2020, LIRR ridership dropped to about 3% of pre-pandemic levels.

With city public schools opening this week, and many more people returning to the office, Danny Pearlstein of the Riders Alliance — a transit advocacy group — said "of course" New Yorkers are returning to the MTA. He urged elected officials to adequately fund the system so it can "provide frequent and affordable service to the millions of Americans who rely on it."

"The awful alternative is expensive, infrequent and unreliable transit that will reverse our recovery and stop us from meeting essential climate goals," he 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.