Community Corner

Straphangers: Monthly Card Could Cost $168 in 10 Years

Group predicts five fare hikes in next decade.

The Straphangers Campaign, a watchdog group that grades the New York City subway system, had a grave warning for subway commuters Tuesday: expect big fare increases over the next decade.

The group released the results of a study by the city's Independent Budget Office that showed fares in 2023 could be 50 percent higher than they are today, if fare hikes continue at the current rate.

"Constant fare hikes will overburden riders, discourage use of mass transit, and cannot be sustained over time," said Gene Russianoff, the Straphangers Campaign staff attorney. "Without more financial support from Albany, the MTA might as well start making announcements that ’there is a fare hike right behind this one.'"

The group said the IBO predicted that the MTA was likely to conduct five 8.4 percent fare increases over the next decade, hiking the base fare to $3.75 per ride and dragging up the cost of a monthly MetroCard to $168 from the current $112. 

Part of the problem, the study found, is that the MTA depends on fares to fund operations more than most other transit systems. 

Russianoff said that the MTA needed to get some financial support from the state to avoid the dark fiscal future that the Independent Budget Office was predicting. 

Whether that help was likely to come as the state fights budget shortfalls, he added, remains to be seen. 

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