MTA Pushes Back Fare Hike and Adds Services

NEW YORK—Fare increases originally scheduled for January 2013 are now being pushed back to March, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced Thursday at a press conference.

Despite tight finances, the MTA said nearly 40 bus, subway, and commuter rail routes will either be added or existing services will be extended.

The fare hike is not connected to renovations, said Joseph Lhota, MTA chairman and CEO. The new price will be discussed at a board meeting next week.

The new service extensions are worth $29 million. Lhota said the MTA was hoping to heal the wounds caused by $93 million in cuts made to balance its budget in 2010.

Bus services were cut back the most, Lhota said. To regain some of the lost services, NYC Transit announced that it will add five new bus routes, extend 13 existing bus routes— and add more midday, night, and weekend service to certain bus routes throughout the five boroughs.

Extensions will include routes such as the Q30 to Queensborough Community College on weekdays, and the S93 to the College of Staten Island campus.

Popular subway lines such as the G train extension to Church Avenue in Brooklyn are now permanent, he said.

“This is a very big day at the MTA…. we are committed to making the MTA as responsive to our customers as possible,” Lhota said.

The Metro-North Railroad will add 230 trains a week: 220 additional trains east of the Hudson River, and 10 on the west. The railroad will also invest in new weekend and off-peak trains.

The changes come at an unusual time in the history of transportation, said an MTA official. In the ’40s, people went to work six days a week, and the MTA is seeing a return to that type of ridership, despite a very different economy.

The additional services will be phased in over several months. Buses such as the B2 that serves Gravesend and Marine Park will be implemented in October 2012, while others begin throughout 2013.

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