LIRR fares would increase more than 4%, tolls rise 5.5% under MTA plan

Long Island Rail Road fares will rise later this year for the first time since 2019, but not as high as originally considered, MTA officials said Monday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, at its finance committee meeting Monday, revealed that it was backing off a plan to raise fares by 5.5%— what would have been the highest rate hike in a decade. Instead, the transit agency, buoyed by a bump in the state payroll tax that will boost revenue by $1.1 billion annually, will revert to its usual 4% fare increase.

The agency typically sticks to a schedule of raising fares and tolls by 4% every other year, but deferred a hike in 2021 and 2022, citing financial hardships among riders caused by the pandemic.

Tolls, however, will still go up by 5.5% under the proposal.

The MTA plans to hold six public hearings on its rate increase plan next month, and to have its board vote on the proposal in July. The new fares and tolls would take effect by Labor Day.

The MTA was projecting a recurring annual deficit of up to $2 billion, caused in large part by ridership losses during the pandemic. MTA chief financial officer Kevin Willens told board members that the “reasonable fare and toll increases,” when combined with the new state aid and an effort to cut costs at the transit agency by $400 million annually, “provide a balanced solution to fully address the MTA’s fiscal cliff.”

Although the goal is to increase overall fare revenue by 4%, actual cost increases for riders will vary. On the LIRR, weekly and monthly tickets would rise, on average, by 4.3%, with no tickets exceeding $500. One-way, off-peak tickets would rise by 4.6%.

The discount on an off-peak LIRR ticket, compared to a peak ticket, would also be reduced from 27.5% to 26%. 

At the LIRR’s Hempstead station Monday, commuter Jacqueline Morales said railroad fares are already “outrageous,” and can cost about the same amount each month as a car payment. 

“Depending on the vehicle, it could be cheaper to drive,” Morales said.

The proposed increase would add about a dollar to the cost of round-trip ticket between Hempstead and Manhattan.

“It adds up,” said Morales, of East Meadow. “They’re high. Even the off-peak is high. So if they raise them, it’s becoming unaffordable.”

The MTA also announced it was considering testing several new fare types on the LIRR, including a Peak CityTicket that would charge $7 for trips made within New York City limits during weekday rush hours. Under current prices, those trips can cost from $9 to $12.75. The LIRR is also proposing to expand the CityTicket to include Far Rockaway station. The LIRR is also proposing to expand the CityTicket to include Far Rockaway station.

Given the new fare discount initiatives — which include plans to pilot several free bus routes in New York City — and plans to increase subway frequency, several MTA board members expressed support for the rate increase.

Finance committee chairman Neal Zuckerman noted that it was the MTA’s first fare increase in four years, and “reasonable” given the cost increases at the MTA, which is still carrying about 30% fewer riders than before COVID.

Even after the proposed increase, the cost of a monthly LIRR pass would remain below what it was in 2019, as the railroad last year reduced the cost by 10%. 

“We need to do this,” Zuckerman said. “It’s appropriate.”

Others criticized the planned hike, including Danny Pearlstein, spokesman for the Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy group, who urged New York City to expand reduced fare eligibility requirements, so that “low-income New Yorkers would never even feel the sting of a fare hike that takes effect on Labor Day.”

On New York City subways and buses, the MTA is proposing to increase the cost of a single ride for the first time in eight years. The “base fare” of $2.75 would increase to $2.90 under the plan, a 5.5% increase. Because it accepts the MetroCard, Nassau’s NICE Bus would change its fare to mirror that of the MTA's buses, a NICE spokesman confirmed.

Lisa Daglian, executive director of the MTA’s Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee, which includes the LIRR Commuter Council, said that although fare increases are never popular, “they are necessary to keeping our transit system rolling.”

Daglian, however, cautioned the MTA against a proposal to eliminate the LIRR’s “Atlantic Ticket,” which offered $5 LIRR trips between stations in Southeast Queens and in Brooklyn, plus a free bus or subway transfer. Doing away with “the only option to transfer between the commuter rails and NYC Transit on one fare, would be a big mistake,” Daglian said in a statement.

The MTA is proposing two options for raising tolls on its bridges and crossings. Under one scenario, tolls would increase by 7% for all motorists, bringing the cost at major crossings like the Queens Midtown Tunnel and Throgs Neck Bridge to $7.01 for E-ZPass customers, up from the current $6.55.

An alternative plan would raise tolls by 6% for E-ZPass users, and by 10% for non-E-ZPass users, who would pay $11.19 at major crossings.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.