Even with the subways often dirty and connections maddeningly delayed, New Yorkers can now anticipate paying more when taking any New York City bus or subway later this year as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is going to raise the OMNY tap or the MetroCard swipe from $2.75 to $2.90. During Monday’s MTA Board Finance Committee meeting, officials detailed the probable fare and toll hikes that are expected to take place prior to Labor Day.
The MTA maintains there have been no transportation raises since 2019 as they wanted to increase and encourage mass transit ridership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with commuters fully returned to buses and subways, officials announced the agency will be returning to its biennial fare increase schedule.
There is some good news: fare hikes are a bit lower than predicted. The initial increase the MTA had planned was to increase fare revenue by 5.5%, but additional funding allocated in the new state budget has allowed the agency to bring that number down to 4%.
Now, a seven-day MetroCard will increase one dollar, from $32 to $33.
A monthly MetroCard is rising 4 percent, increasing from $127 to $132.
Express buses, Long Island Railroad and Metro-North will also have fare hikes. Fares for express buses will go up from $6.75 to $7.00; the price of a seven-day pass will increase from $62 to $64.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Legislature, along with the Governor, for this effort to assure the MTA’s long-term financial stability, and we look forward to working with them as we deliver essential mass transit service for New Yorkers,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.
The MTA will be holding public hearings over the proposed rate increases in June, and a vote on the final proposal is planned for July.
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