Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials reminds the public that comments on proposed changes to fares and tolls can be submitted online.

 

In addition, they said a series of four hybrid public fare hearings will be held between Thursday, June 22, and Monday, June 26. All hearings will take place in person at MTA Headquarters located at 2 Broadway, New York, on the 20th Floor in the William J. Ronan Board Room and will be streamed live via Zoom and YouTube.

 

Members of the public who wish to speak can provide comments either in person or via Zoom, according to the MTA. The MTA Board will vote on the fare and toll changes in July 2023, with changes expected to go into effect no later than Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4.

 

According to MTA officials, after a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the MTA is resuming its practice of adopting fare and toll increases every other year – a modest and predictable increase that helps to keep up with inflation. They said the planned 2023 fare change is in line with the standard biennial 4 percent increase in fare revenue, rather than 5.5 percent and they said this was thanks to the $65 million secured by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State legislature in the State budget.

 

MTA officials said members of the public who wish to only view the hearings online may access the event live at the respective links below.

 

Hybrid Public Hearing Dates

They said there will be four hybrid public hearings, each lasting three to four hours, for the MTA to receive comments on the proposed changes to MTA fares at the dates and times below.

Thursday, June 22, 2023, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Livestream link.
Thursday, June 22, 2023, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Livestream link.
Friday, June 23, 2023, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Livestream link.
Monday, June 26, 2023, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Livestream link.

 

MTA officials said they will make accommodations for people who are non-hearing or hard of hearing, for people who are non-seeing or have low vision, and people who require language assistance or other accommodations. Click here for more information.

 

How to Register to Speak

Those who wish to speak in person or virtually must pre-register online or call the Public Hearing Hotline at 646-252- 6777. All speakers will have two minutes to provide comments. Registration for each public hearing opened Saturday, June 3, and will close at the start of the hearing.

 

According to the MTA, if you register to speak online, you may join the scheduled hearing either online or by phone. See here for more details. In addition to providing verbal comments at the hearings, comments may be submitted online, by email, mail, and phone.

 

Online: Customers can submit a written or video comment here.

Mail: MTA Government & Community Relations, for the attention of Fare Hearings, 2 Broadway, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004

Phone: (646) 252-6777, telephone agents are available from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.

All comments will be made part of the public record and shared with the MTA Board for review, MTA officials said.

 

New York City Transit Proposals

MTA officials said the base fare for subway, local buses and paratransit would increase 15 cents, from $2.75 to $2.90 and the Express Bus base fare would increase from $6.75 to $7.

 

Unlimited Ride Passes

7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard: increase from $33 to $34
7-Day Express Bus Plus Unlimited Bus Plus Pass: increase from $62 to $64
30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard: increase from $127 to $132
Senior Citizen, Disabled, Student Reduced Fare, and Paratransit Zero Fare discount policies remain unchanged.

 

Fare Capping Pilot With OMNY

The MTA is considering modifying the fare capping pilot with OMNY to make taking mass transit more flexible.

 

MTA officials said the proposed change would allow the best fare to be guaranteed over a rolling 7-day period instead of the current fixed Monday through Sunday period. With this change, they said customers would be guaranteed never to pay more than the cost of a Weekly Unlimited Ride MetroCard no matter what day of the week they begin tapping – and without the burden of pre-paying.

 

Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad Proposals

MTA officials said monthly and weekly tickets, which are priced based on distance traveled, would increase around 4 percent on both railroads. They said monthly ticket fares would not exceed $500. They added that thanks to the additional 10 percent discount the MTA implemented in March 2022, monthly and weekly fares would remain lower than they were pre-COVID.

 

They said the discount for traveling off-peak would be standardized to a 26 percent discount from the peak fare across both railroads. They added that until now, Metro-North’s discount was 25 percent and LIRR’s 27.5 percent.

 

MTA officials said other ticket types would increase over a wide range. However, they added that any ticket increase greater than 6 percent would be held to a maximum increase of 50 cents per trip.

 

They said LIRR and Metro-North would continue to offer UniTicket fares to travel on both commuter rail and connecting bus and ferry services. The said changes in those fares would be based in part on changes to weekly and monthly transit fares. They added that one-way tickets for MTA-managed connecting services would also change.

 

Policies regarding the calculation of onboard fares and refunds would remain unchanged, MTA officials said.

 

CityTicket Pilot Options

According to the MTA, CityTicket currently offers railroad customers a $5 flat-fare ticket to travel within New York City, but it is limited to weekends and during weekday off-peak periods. MTA officials said the proposed change would introduce a Peak CityTicket for travel during commute times for $7, a significant discount, they said, from the current peak fares for city travel, which they said are as high as $10.75.

 

They added that the new CityTicket would be valid for travel between all 23 LIRR stations or 15 Metro-North stations located within New York City. They said the Peak CityTicket would be the first discounted CityTicket option that is valid to Manhattan terminals during commute hours, a significant expansion, they said, from the Atlantic Ticket, which limits discounted peak travel only for trips between Atlantic Terminal and select stations in Southeast Queens and Brooklyn.

 

MTA officials said the benefit of the Atlantic Ticket would effectively be folded and expanded into the new CityTicket. As such, they said both the $5 One-Way Atlantic Ticket and $62 Weekly Atlantic Ticket may be discontinued. Additionally, they said the commuter railroad fare structure would be standardized and simplified for all customers traveling within city limits.

 

The MTA is also developing a special CityTicket for customers traveling to/from Far Rockaway on the LIRR at the same price as the CityTicket.

 

Modifications to the Peak 20-Trip Ticket

MTA officials said the 20-Trip Peak ticket, introduced in 2022 to encourage infrequent customers to commute more regularly, may be maintained, modified to a lower discount percentage, or discontinued as post-COVID travel patterns continue to return to normal.

 

MTA Bridges and Tunnels Proposals

MTA is considering two options for changes to tolls as follows:

Option 1 would increase all toll rates by 7 percent.
Option 2 would increase toll rates 6 percent for customers using an E-ZPass issued by the New York Customer Service Center, which serves MTA Bridges and Tunnels, the New York State Thruway Authority, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. For customers paying with an out-of-state E-ZPass or who choose to be tolled by mail, MTA officials said the toll rates would increase 10 percent.

 

They said the existing toll discount programs for Rockaways/Broad Channel residents using the Cross Bay Bridge and Staten Island residents using the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge would remain in effect.