Jun 17, 2009 7:00 am US/Eastern
Fare Hikes Begin On LIRR & Metro-North
Single Ride Up 10 Percent Starting Wednesday; MTA Bridge And Tunnel Increases To Begin On July 12
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Under the bailout agreement MTA fares will go up 10 percent, instead of the expected 8 percent.
AP
The cost of a seat on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North went up roughly 10 percent at midnight Wednesday, part of the bailout compromise that avoided the massive 30 percent doomsday increases.
Still, many riders who were buying their old-priced tickets for the last time Tuesday night think the increase is still too high.
Alison Durham was buying a roundtrip ticket to Yonkers from Grand Central as she reflected on the hike.
"It's a big deal considering nobody has any money," Durham said. "Money is very scarce right now."
Durham is facing a $1.50 roundtrip hike in her fare to Yonkers. That amounts to about $30 a month for the rest of her working life unless she buys a monthly pass, something she said she rarely has the cash for.
The roundtrip fare to Port Chester from Grand Central is going up $2, or $40 a month; to Mount Kisco it's going up $250 or $50 a month for commuters paying by the ride.
"It adds up. It adds up, especially when the fares go up all the time," White Plains passenger John Wolkovitsch said while looking up at the big board in Grand Central. "They got a deficit. Wadda ya gonna do?"
Ethan and Omar Beckett were wondering the same thing over at Penn Station. The brothers work at different Manhattan jobs but commute together on the train. They haven't even checked what their monthly passes will cost in July, although Ethan said he knows "It's gonna be a hit. It's gonna be a big hit in the pockets for both of us."
It turns out they'll both fork over an extra $21 a month for the peak commuter pass on the LIRR's Babylon line.
The only passengers escaping the June 17 fare hikes will be passengers riding from New York to Connecticut on the Metro-North New Haven line, on trains bearing the insignia of the State of Connecticut. They get a pass for the moment because their legislators in Hartford haven't yet voted on the MTA's increases. Observers said, though, it's only a matter of time before they do.
Until then, the only other passengers who will ride for the same fare they had on Monday are those who bought the 10-pack tickets before the June 17 deadline.
Joan Roe of Croton Falls pulled out her wallet and bought several.
"Why pay more if I don't have to," Roe said.
The problem is she eventually will have to. We all will.
CBS 2's Lou Young contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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