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The MTA will announce proposals next fall to hike subway and bus fares, as well as tolls at all crossings in 2017 just some or all toll crossings?
But it’s not all doom and gloom for straphangers — the MTA will also consider the “Freedom Ticket,” an innovative proposal by rider advocates, when it looks at fares.
Under the plan by the Transit Riders Council, commuters would pay $215 for unlimited railroad, subway, and bus trips within New York City. Currently, a monthly MetroCard and an LIRR ticket in the city east of Jamaica costs more than $330 a month combined. Thousands of railroad seats are going empty every morning and afternoon during rush-hour, while the subway is the busiest it’s been since World War II, the Council’s analysis says. The E and F lines, for instance, are running at 95% capacity during rush-hour in Queens. Overcrowding on all subway lines causes thousands of delays each month, according to MTA data.
The fare proposal would help the MTA slash hours from subway riders’ commute every week without much cost, while lowering the number of people packing onto some of its most crowded lines.
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Photo Credit: Charles Eckert
Overcrowding on the subways is likely to worsen in 2016, but New Yorkers can look forward to speedier bus service, Wi-Fi at stations and fewer shutdowns on the No. 7 line.
The big question, though, is whether the Second Avenue Subway’s will open on the Upper East Side before 2017.
Here’s a look at what transit riders can expect in the year ahead.
