MTA Fares Increase and Plan Supports Congestion Pricing

NEW YORK CITY—On April 21, the price of the weekly MetroCard pass will go up from $32 to $33. The monthly pass will rise from $121 to $127. The basic bus and subway fare will remain at $2.75. But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is eliminating the cash bonuses added when riders put $5.50 or more on their cards.

The MTA is also planning to phase out the MetroCards cards in their entirety by 2023. Using the OMNY (One Metro New York) system riders will use smartphones with apps such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet or bank cards to pay fares. This technology is scheduled for an initial public unveiling in May with the 4, 5 and 6 lines, from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan to the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center stop in Brooklyn. It will also be unrolled on buses in Staten Island.

But the changes are not just coming to public transportation. On Wednesday, the MTA board also approved tolls for bridge and tunnel users. On March 31, for E-ZPass users the tolls for major MTA crossings will go up from $5.76 to $6.12 and tolls by mail (for cars without E-ZPasses) will rise from $8.50 to $9.50.

These MTA fare hikes come the day after Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio jointly issued an endorsement of congestion pricing and agreed upon a plan to reorganize and fund the MTA. Highlights of the plan include the following:

The congestion pricing would install electronic toll boxes for vehicles entering the Central Business District defined as streets south of 61st Street in Manhattan. The FDR would be considered outside the district. The tolls would provide discounts for off-peak travel. Emergency and medical vehicles and transportation for people with disabilities and identifiable hardships would be exempt. Revenue from the congestion toll, a new tax on internet sales in New York City, and a cannabis excise tax would provide funding for MTA capital needs. The toll amounts will be established after electronic infrastructure is in place and a capital plan is finalized, but no later than December 2020.

By June 2019, the MTA will be reorganized to centralize its six entities. In the future, MTA fares will be limited to 2% increases for inflation. MTA board appointments will end with the appointing elected official’s term. The city and state will crack down on fare evaders. While not criminalizing turnstile jumping, the MTA, city and district attorneys will cooperate to prevent fare evasion, sanction violators and increase enforcement.

The New York Building Congress president and CEO Carlo A. Scissura and the acting chair of the MTA Fernando Ferrer issued statements strongly endorsing the proposal. But congestion pricing could be a tough battle in districts with populations who drive into the Central Business District. On Tuesday in an interview with Brian Lehrer on WNYC, Gov. Cuomo stated he planned to get the state legislature to approve the congestion pricing by April 1. In that interview, he also stated without congestion pricing, MTA fare increases could be as high as 30%.

Although congestion pricing could help reduce traffic and transportation delays within Manhattan, questions remain whether these initiatives will be enough to revamp the MTA. On February 26, Reuters reported, “The MTA estimates that it needs between $41 billion and $60 billion to pay for improvements and repairs under its next five-year capital plan that begins next year, on top of its roughly $17 billion annual operating budget.”