Another subway hike looming

daver wrote: I forget if it was the post or who, but someone ran a story that what they figured out they really needed was a $2.10 fare, except that their machines don't deal with dimes, so they rounded up to $2.25. Which sucks. And I further think that any comparison to other cities is futile, NYC should be a leader, not a follower. Just because it is better than xyz doesn't make it right or good.

I heard something like that as well...the MTA is also making it about the ticket/ card dispensing machines in the subway as one major reason for the fare hike. hey, THEY installed the damned things, not us.

They are saying the ticket machines are what is making the system more expensive. they are limited to how much they can accept also and they rounded UP to make the machines able to accept more $$ with less coins, etc. (to be able to accept, say, 2,000 quarters instead of 2,000 nickels, etc.).The whole thing sounds fishy and like a big excuse.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/09/26/2007-09-26_mta_blames_vending_machines_for_25cent_f-5.html

MTA blames vending machines for 25-cent fare hike plan

BY PETE DONOHUE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, September 26th 2007, 2:19 PM

Jisele Lazo, of Queens, was outraged by the possibility that the MTA may raise the fare by 25 cents to accommodate its vending machines.

Jisele Lazo, of Queens, was outraged by the possibility that the MTA may raise the fare by 25 cents to accommodate its vending machines.

The MTA can't nickel-and-dime straphangers - but it has no problem taking their quarters.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority acknowledged yesterday that one BIG reason it wants a 25-cent bus and subway hike is because its vending machines can dispense only dollar coins and quarters.

MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin defended the increase as fair and said upping it by a nickel or dime wouldn't be enough.

"The limitations of technology would make a $2.10 fare extremely costly to implement and would provide a much poorer quality of service," Soffin said.

Transit advocates and straphangers said the public is getting shortchanged - again.

"It's not acceptable for them to say, 'The machines are making us do it,'" said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. "What are they going to [do] if next time they think there should be a 35-cent hike? Round it off to 50 cents and make us pay?"

Riders weren't buying it.

"It's an outrage," said Anthony Thompson, a Queens engineer. "Our money is being spent because of a hardware defect?"

Recruiter Jisele Lazo, 22, of Queens, said: "It stinks. Why don't they just leave it at $2? Why are they making it easier for the machines? There are far more commuters than machines."

Bethann Miale, a video artist from Brooklyn, suspected the authority was making a "scapegoat" out of the equipment. "It's ridiculous. They really just want to raise the fare."

Soffin said smaller change would mean longer lines and riders being saddled with pockets full of silver.

He said the size of the fare hike was not unreasonable because the $2 base fair had remained steady since 2003.

A 25-cent jump would amount to a "cost-of-living" increase for the system, Soffin said.

A rider buying a single-ride ticket priced at $2.10 with a $5 bill would be carting away 11 quarters and three nickels, or 58 nickels, he pointed out.

The machines also would likely run out of change more quickly, have to be filled more often and likely need more frequent maintenance, he said.

Out-of-service machines would result in longer lines at token booths, he said, estimating the added costs to be millions of dollars.

The MTA, and independent fiscal watchdogs agree, says it faces a fiscal crisis with budget deficits well north of $1 billion starting to hit in 2009. It must raise fares next year to get back on sound financial ground.

MTA CEO Elliot Sander, appearing at an NYC Transit award ceremony for transit workers yesterday, said he knows a fare hike will be a burden for riders. He said NYC Transit needs the money to keep the system safe and reliable.

One option they are considering is the peak/ off peak fares like they have in Washington D.C. this might make sense, but would kill the NYC subway as we know it. the greatest thing about the subway was that you could go anywhere in the city for one fare.

One benefit employees should start asking for ( if they don't have it) is an unlimited monthly subway pass from MTA...I think it is tax deductable for them. Do any of you get that from your employersalready?

Or can you use your subway expense as a tax write-off with the business you have? Just curious.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/nyregion/20cnd-fare.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Spitzer Calls for M.T.A. to Keep Base Fare at $2
Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

From left, Elliot G. Sander, the chief executive of the M.T.A; Gov. Eliot Spitzer; and H. Dale Hemmerdinger, the chairman of the authority, at a news conference on fares on Tuesday.

Article Tools Sponsored By
By ANAHAD O'CONNOR and ANDREW TANGEL
Published: November 20, 2007

New York State Gov. Eliot Spitzer announced today that he was calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to throw out a controversial proposal to raise subway and bus fares and to keep the base fare at $2 per ride.

At a news conference in midtown this morning, Mr. Spitzer said that under a new plan, the agency would still be able to raise some fares, including the cost of weekly and monthly bus and subway MetroCards, commuter railroad fares, and bridge and tunnel tolls. But he said that an unexpected increase of $220 million in the agency’s budget forecast should enable it to forego its plan to raise the base fare next year from $2 per ride to $2.25.

“Based on the current economic climate that has so many New Yorkers feeling squeezed, it seemed only proper that this amount be returned to the riders,” he said. “I am therefore calling on the M.T.A. to use these funds to reduce the proposed fare and toll increases.”

Mr. Spitzer was joined at the news conference by the M.T.A.’s chairman and chief executive, who said that the agency had agreed to reduce the increase. The agency said in a statement that it was prompted to make the decision by feedback from public hearings and the unexpected boost in its balance sheet, which it said came in part from a one percent jump in anticipated ridership and money it saved on service costs. The proposal must still be approved by the M.T.A.’s 17-member board. H. Dale Hemmerdinger, the agency chairman, said he intended to work with the board so a decision could be reached in December.

“I believe this is a compromise that helps our customers without compromising our fiduciary responsibility,” he said. “And I look forward to discussing it further with my fellow board members.”

Mr. Spitzer said he believed that the extra money in the M.T.A.’s balance sheet would help it lower an overall increase of 6.5 percent in its entire fare structure. The agency’s fare hike proposal had called for a series of regular, inflation-indexed fare increases every two years, with the first of those proposed for 2010. The M.T.A. had also announced a plan to introduce a new 14-day discounted MetroCard, and said it would consider offering an additional discounted rate to bus and subway riders during off-peak hours.

The authority initially said it needed to impose the fare hike because its expenditures — including debt and employee health care costs — were rising much faster than its income. But the proposal was met with harsh resistance from many riders who showed up at public hearings, and a number of legislators asked the agency to hold off on the hike until April 15 so the Legislature could have more time to find other sources of revenue.

Mr. Spitzer included no specific details for other rate increases in his announcement this morning. Elliot G. Sander, the M.T.A.’s executive director and chief executive, said a $1.50 off-peak fare “is still a possibility,” though the agency has yet to make specific proposals and weigh riders’ input.

The announcement today by Mr. Spitzer could help his public standing. It comes barely a week after he abandoned a plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants — a proposal that brought him relentless criticism and controversy.

In response to a reporter’s question, Mr. Spitzer denied that his announcement — two days before the Thanksgiving holiday — was timed politically to improve his fortunes in Albany.

“This has nothing to do with anything other than when the numbers from the M.T.A. were generated,” he said, adding that officials have aimed for transparency when calculating rate increases.