MTA board votes to move forward on plan to hike fares, tolls in March

The MTA board voted Thursday to move forward on a plan to raise fares and tolls in March.

Monthly Long Island Rail Road tickets would increase by $15 or less under the proposal, which would have to be approved by the board in January. The vote Thursday authorized the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to begin publicizing its various options for rate increases and to schedule public hearings next month.

Under the plan, the maximum increase on weekly and monthly tickets would be 3.85 percent, with dollar increases capped at $15 for monthly tickets and $5.75 on weekly tickets. 

Commuters already paying $500 or more for their monthly ticket would not see any increase at all. Just 27 LIRR riders pay that amount or more, MTA officials said.

The cost of one-way LIRR tickets would rise 4 percent under the plan, with no increases exceeding 50 cents per ticket.

The MTA proposed various options for increases on buses, subways and for tolls on the agency’s bridges and tunnels. Options for increases on the MetroCard include keeping the existing “base fare” of $2.75 while eliminating “bonuses” toward future fare purchases, or raising the base fare to $3 while increasing the bonus. Monthly unlimited ride MetroCards could climb to $127, from the current $121.

While public transportation fare increases would be kept in the range of 4 percent, E-ZPass toll increases could rise by twice that amount under one of the MTA’s proposals to hike tolls at major crossings by about 50 cents — an 8 percent hike.

MTA managing director Veronique Hakim emphasized that the various proposals represent “the high end” of any potential rate hikes, and that the MTA board could choose to raise them by smaller amounts.

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.