By MEGAN MESSANA
Recent reports that the MTA was considering raising subway and bus fares by a quarter next year had some riders fuming like old train engines on Tuesday.
“If I can’t afford to get to my job in Manhattan, then I have to find work on Staten Island where I won’t make nearly as much money,” said Stacey Mazza, 23, a resident of the “forgotten borough.” “Either way I’m screwed.”
The reports say that various options were on the table: the base fare will go up to $2.75, but the bonus riders get when buying a card would increase from 5 to 11 percent; another option was to leave the base fare at $2.50 but decrease the bonus. In either case, the weekly MetroCard would increase from $30 to $31 and the monthly card from $112 to $116.50.
“I don’t care about the bonus” said Mazza. It’s not even a full ride so it does nothing for me.” She said that if the fares continue to increase, she would essentially be using her entire paycheck to get to and from work.
Other commuters said they could abide a fare boost if improvements were made to the buses and trains.
“If you insist on raising fares, you need to do something beneficial with those raises,” said Lisa Petrocelli, 23. “I don’t need the stations in Manhattan to be redone so they look nice. I don’t need WifFi underground. I need to get to work on time. I need waits that are shorter than 45 minutes for me get on the bus that’s taking me home.”
Lauren Bavero, 25, was another rider who wanted to see the fare increase used to make commuting more comfortable. “I absolutely would not mind paying more as long as the stations and trains were clean and upkept,” she insisted. “For upwards of 150 a month, we should be a little more comfortable in our daily commute.”
If the MTA hiked the fares to the rate of inflation, it would mean around a 2 percent increase per year. The MTA board would most likely vote on the proposal in December. It would represent the fifth hike in some seven years.
Some New Yorkers weren’t overly concerned with the potential fare hike.
“I don’t feel as though the fare hikes are worst thing in the world” says Devon Webster, 23. “I do feel that the MTA should do a better job of notifying its customers of the changes that are being made to services.”
“It’s unfortunate but necessary” says John McFarland, 24, of the potential rise; he said that it’s simply the price to pay for living in the city: “Infrastructure costs money, and costs go up while revenue doesn’t. As of right now, we’re their main source of income.”
While the proposals look daunting, they were not set in stone and would not take effect till March.