The MTA Is Voting on Another Fare Hike This Week — and Commuters Are Dreading It

A vote on an MTA fare hike scheduled to take place later this week is bringing dread to commuters.

“Takes a lot from my paycheck,” commuter Ketzy Anzurez said of the $120 a month she already pays for a MetroCard, adding that a fare hike will make “a huge difference.”

However, Anzurez is not the only one worried about transit affordability.

“The fare hike is unfair,” Jean Ryan said.

On Tuesday, as MTA committee members met, they got an earful from riders imploring them not to approve a long-planned fare hike.

“I beg of you please…don’t raise the fare,” Dorothy Zuniga, a disabled rider, said. “It’s really a hardship.”

Board members are planning to vote Thursday for one of these options: either raining the base fare to $3 and keeping a 10 percent bonus for buying monthly Metrocards or keep the base fare at $2.75, but with no bonus.

In a statement, the MTA said its "board will have a robust discussion and decide on the best course of action in the context of the MTA's dire financial position, which requires fare and toll increases as well as new, sustainable, adequate sources of funding in order to balance the budget while avoiding painful service cuts."

However, the governor endorsed a new option: no hike without the MTA reaching key performance goals.

The NYC Transit Vice President of Subways Sally Librera said Tuesday that the system has already turned the corner.

“All of our customer metrics improved,” Librera said. “We know we have more to do — these statistics reflect that progress.”

The MTA approved a $17 billion budget for 2019 last December that assumes a series of broad fare hikes.

But the exact scope of those hikes, which are meant to fill a $250 million hole in the budget, won't be voted on until January.

Riders will just have to wait to see the outcome of Thursday’s vote.