MTA to vote on fare hikes today

NEW YORK (AP) — Iris Hernandez has some decisions to make: A fare increase on New York City’s subways, buses and commuter rails is about to add $180 to the yearly commuting costs that she and her husband already pay.

“We’ll have to change, spend less at home or make some personal changes so we have the money, but he has to use it,” Hernandez, of West New York, N.J., said of the monthly subway and bus passes her husband buys to get to work.

The cost of the unlimited-ride monthly Metrocards is poised to rise nearly 17 percent, the largest of the fare increases the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is scheduled to vote on Thursday.

The fare hikes by the nation’s largest transit agency are the latest attempt to close an $800 million budget gap. They would hit commuters across the region, from those riding city trains and buses to those taking the suburban commuter railroads.

The price of monthly unlimited Metrocards, currently $89, will rise by $15. Other fare classes also will increase, although not as steep. The $2.25 one-way subway and bus fare will stay the same except for single-ride tickets, which will increase to $2.50.

The increases follow ones in 2008 and 2009, and another is planned for 2013.

“We clearly understand that riders are frustrated and we are sensitive to that,” MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said Wednesday. But MTA officials have said the agency needs to close budget gaps that the state government couldn’t plug.

Transit advocate Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign said the multiple fare hikes coming so quickly after one another was unprecedented.

He said the agency had been hit by funding cuts from the state but that the MTA hadn’t done enough to try to get additional funding from the state and federal governments.

Russianoff also pointed out that the fare hike was being voted on just months after the MTA slashed service.

“It’s going to be a hardship,” he said.

Jenna Tarshis, who uses a monthly Metrocard to commute to her office job, was resigned to the increased costs for her daily subway rides.

“I understand they have to pay for things, and I don’t want my service to be decreased, but at the same time, it’s not a good time in the economy to be raising prices for people to get to and from work,” the 24-year-old said.

“It’s not like I’m making a ton of money to be spending the extra,” she said. “And there’s nothing I can do, I’m not going to take a cab across town every day.”