Dec 11, 2007 4:40 am US/Eastern
Monthly MetroCards Could See Sharpest Fare Hike
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Once again, the MTA is talking fare hike and this time it's monthly Metrocard riders that could be hit the hardest.
AP
The numbers are out, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Monday the majority of city subway riders could be dishing out some extra dollars to hop on board.
Yes, after announcing recently that single fares would stay at $2 a ride, monthly Metrocard holders, who account for an estimated 86 percent of all subway riders, will pay more in ways they call hidden, tricky, and confusing, under new proposals.
On the chopping block is the 20 percent bonus straphangers enjoy when they fill up Metrocards. Currently, for every five rides purchased at once comes one free ride. But the proposed change means after five rides comes less -- only a dollar and change.
Right now once a Metrocard is used up it has a zero balance, but if the new proposals go through, riders will want to hold onto the card because there will be some odd change left on it.
"It's a trick, it's always a trick," says Maria Novoa, a south Bronx straphanger.
Novoa says the MTA is counting on lost or unused Metrocards with change left on them -- the same way merchants rely on unused gift cards -- to make some extra revenue.
The MTA proposals rolled out without much fanfare, popping up on the Internet. There was a state-of-the-art MTA "Webinar," designed for riders to get information and give feedback. It did not work when CBS 2 tried it.
Hundreds of others were stranded online too.
"When you try something new, it doesn't always go right," says MTA Commissioner Elliot Sander.
Other proposals include increasing monthly Metrocard fares from $76 to $81; increasing weekly Metrocard fares from $24 to $25; and a new two-week unlimited ride card for $47.
Voting on the proposals will take place in nine days.
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