MTA's 2023 budget includes anticipated fare hike

The MTA on Wednesday approved an operating budget for 2023 that authorizes the agency to begin the process of raising fares, including by scheduling public hearings on a 5.5% increase in fare and toll revenue.

It would be the largest hike in a decade, though any proposed increase would require a separate board vote.

Several board members who voted in favor of the $19.4 billion budget at the Manhattan meeting indicated that they would not necessarily support a fare hike — a measure they hope to avoid through increased government funding, potentially in a new state budget early next year.

“I think we can agree riders are hurting. New Yorkers are hurting. Household budgets are stretched,” said board member Sherif Soliman, who represents New York City. “I truly hope … that there is a solution where we do not have to come back and entertain fare increases.”

MTA chairman Janno Lieber emphasized that the board's vote only allows for the "preliminary, administrative process" to begin for a potential fare and toll increase. He said an actual hike remains "a ways off," and noted that public hearings on a rate hike wouldn't be scheduled until late February "at the earliest." 

New rates also wouldn't come until a "working group" of MTA board members and other staffers come up with recommendations on how to adjust fares equitably among all riders. The process could buy enough time to avoid a fare hike altogether, Lieber suggested.

"We've been very open about the fact that we're trying to give Albany, City Hall and Washington a chance to come together on what they intend to contribute to the MTA’s financial situation so our essential service can be maintained at an affordable rate,” Lieber said.

The budget plan includes several new efficiencies that aim to cut costs by $100 million next year — growing to $400 million in 2024. These include potentially reducing the number of cars on some Long Island Rail Road trains and running fewer LIRR trains on certain weekdays when ridership is lower.

The plan also looks to spread out what’s left of the $15 billion in federal COVID-19 stimulus funding the MTA received, in order to pay down debt and reduce future deficits.

Those strategies will still leave the MTA with a projected $600 million budget gap in 2023 — a figure that agency officials expect to grow substantially in future years. The shortfall is due largely to the pandemic, which decimated ridership and other revenues.

Because of increased government funding, the MTA was able to forgo planned fare increases in 2021 and 2022 but says it needs a rate hike next year to help shrink its budget hole. The proposed 5.5% increase would be the largest fare hike since 2013.

MTA officials have not proposed specific new fares, including for the LIRR.

MTA Board member Samuel Chu, who represents Suffolk County, said he, too, has “reservations … about fare increases.”

Chu hoped the belt-tightening measures included in the budget will show government partners that the agency is doing “everything we can … to bring costs under control.”

“Most importantly, I think it sends a signal that we’re not going to get this done without help,” Chu said.

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.