MTA fare hikes on subways, buses, trains go into effect on Sunday
NEW YORK -- Get ready to dig a little deeper to pay for your commute. On Sunday, the MTA is raising subway, bus and train fares.
The base fare for a subway or bus ride is jumping from $2.75 to $2.90, the first fare hike in eight years. A 7-day pass will cost $34, a buck more. A 30-day unlimited pass will cost $132, a $5 hike.
Express bus fares will increase from $6.75 to $7.
Monthly and weekly tickets on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North are increasing up to 4.5%.
The MTA board, which unanimously approved the fare hikes in July, called them "reasonable" to keep up with inflation. The additional revenue will fund operational costs like increased wages, the MTA said.
New Yorkers had mixed reactions.
"Cost of fuel, cost of electricity, everything has increased," a rider said.
"I take the train like three days a week. It's still expensive for me," said another rider.
Some riders hope the MTA puts the money to work ASAP.
"I would love to have the MTA have more money to spend on projects and improving existing infrastructure. So, it seems OK to me," one rider said.
"They're doing it, they say, for the fare beaters. But that's not going to help anything, even when the fare goes up," another rider said.
Others were more concerned about their own everyday expense.
"I think it's very unreasonable right now for me," a rider said.
"It's a little high now. So it's kind of uncomfortable for the people that ride every day trying to get to work," another rider said.
According to the agency, weekday ridership has significantly rebounded, but is still around 70% of pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, the MTA raised fares on weekly and monthly MetroCards only. Subway and bus base fares had been untouched since 2015.
Tolls hikes at MTA bridges and tunnels also went into effect this month.