MTA Proposed Changes

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that public comments on proposed changes in fares and tolls can now be submitted online, as outlined at the MTA Board Finance Committee last.

In addition, 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, NY 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. 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.

The planned 2023 fare change is in line with the standard biennial 4 percent increase in fare revenue, rather than 5.5 percent, thanks to the $65 million secured by Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature in the State budget.

In Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte’s newsletter, she wrote, “I find it insulting that the MTA could even think about proposing a fare increase when they just secured $65 million from the New York State budget.”

There will be four hybrid public hearings, each lasting three to four hours, to receive comments on the proposed changes to MTA fares at the dates and times below. Visit the MTA website (new.mta.info/) or YouTube (MTA Live) for livestream links.

Thursday, June 22 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 22 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

Friday, June 23 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

Monday, June 26 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.

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. In addition to providing verbal comments at the hearings, comments may be submitted online, by email, mail, and phone. All comments will be made part of the public record and shared with the MTA Board for review.

Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad Proposals

Monthly and weekly tickets, which are priced based on distance traveled, would increase around 4 percent on both railroads.

Monthly ticket fares would not exceed $500. 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.

The discount for traveling off-peak would be standardized to a 26% discount from the peak fare across both railroads. Until now, Metro-North’s discount was 25 percent and LIRR’s 27.5 percent.

Other ticket types would increase over a wide range; however, any ticket increase greater than 6% would be held to a maximum increase of 50 cents per trip.

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

Policies regarding the calculation of onboard fares and refunds would remain unchanged.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels Proposals

MTA is considering two options for changes to tolls.

• 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, toll rates would increase 10 percent.

—Information from Town of North Hempstead Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte’s newsletter thebristal.com

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