Peak fares return March 1, but LIRR proposing discounts to lure riders back

Peak fares will return to the Long Island Rail Road in March, but many riders would still pay less for their commutes under several new fare discount proposals aimed at luring back riders, a railroad official said in an interview with Newsday.

A 10% discount on monthly tickets, a new 20-Trip Ticket, and a flat $5 fare for all weekday, off-peak trips within New York City would come to the LIRR on March 1 under the proposal, which will be voted on by the MTA Board on Wednesday.

The new fares would remain in effect as "pilots" for at least four months but could be extended or made permanent.

"We hope that these incentives are ways to get people to say, ‘Let me try the train.’ … And that gets them back in the mode of saying, ‘Hey, this is pretty good,’ " LIRR president Phillip Eng said in an interview.

On the same day that the new ticket discounts would take effect, the railroad also would resume charging up to 27% more for travel during "peak hours" — trains scheduled to arrive in New York City terminals between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. or depart city terminals between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Peak pricing has been suspended since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic has hurt the railroad’s ridership, which remains at around 55% of what it was in 2019.

The new options also aim to reflect changes in commuter patterns, Eng said. Although more than half of weekday riders are back on the trains, sales of monthly tickets are around 28% of pre-pandemic levels — signaling that most riders are not traveling to work five days a week anymore.

The new 20-Trip Ticket would address that, Eng said. The ticket, which would only be available as an electronic ticket, would be good for 60 days and come with a 20% discount off the price of 20 peak trips.

Gerard Bringmann, chairman of the LIRR Commuter Council, applauded the new options — particularly the 20-Trip Ticket, which his group long has advocated for as a way to address the changing face of commuting since the pandemic hit.

"For the percentage of the riders that are going to be coming in two days a week, three days a week, I think the 20-Trip Ticket is great for them," said Bringmann, a nonvoting riders’ LIRR representative on the MTA Board who believes the flexible work schedules that emerged during the pandemic are "here to stay."

"People are getting very comfortable working at home. And while companies are trying to get their people back, they’re losing people to companies who are letting people stay home half the time," Bringmann said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR’s parent organization, has projected that it could take until the end of 2024 for 80% of riders to return to the system.

Those already commuting to work full time will experience an LIRR rarity — a reduction in their monthly ticket price. The 10% discount would bring the cost of a monthly ticket between Hicksville and Penn Station from $308 to $277 — about what it was a decade ago.

Because monthly tickets now cost about the price of 22 trips — or 11 days of commuting — Eng said the rollback is another acknowledgment that people aren’t taking the train as much as they used to.

"Also, it’s a reward, if you think about it, for our essential workers who have been riding [using a] monthly, in some cases, throughout the pandemic," Eng said.

The railroad also is looking to expand its City Ticket, which charges $5 for travel within stations in New York City on weekends. Under the proposal, the ticket would be valid during weekday, off-peak hours — providing a discount of up to 35% for some trips between Queens and Penn Station or Atlantic Terminal.

New York City transportation advocates had been pushing the LIRR to reduce fares at all times for travel within the city as a way to attract Queens and Brooklyn residents who live near an LIRR station but don’t use the railroad regularly because of the cost, as compared with a bus or subway trip. Eng said the expanded City Ticket is a "move in the right direction."

Although the new tickets aim to lower commuting costs for tens of thousands of riders, those savings could be partially offset by a planned 4% fare increase sometime in 2022. The fare hike was originally scheduled for this year but was postponed at the urging of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

If the 4% increase were added to the original price of a monthly ticket — rather than the temporarily discounted price — it would mean commuters would be hit with a 14% hike, and then another 4% increase in 2023.

"I’m thrilled that we're getting a 10% break on the monthlies," Bringmann said. "My only reservation is that when a fare increase comes later in 2022, how much of a hit are we going to take?"

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.