Eliminating LIRR's 20-trip ticket the wrong move

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's decision to quietly eliminate the Long Island Rail Road's 20-trip ticket as part of its fare and toll increases is the wrong move at the wrong time — done the wrong way. 

For the many thousands of LIRR customers who have benefited from the 20-trip ticket since its inception in March 2022, the change translates into a nearly 30% increase in commuting costs.

The program, which offered monthly discounts on a package of  20 peak one-way fares to about 14,000 riders,  began last year as a nod to those working post-pandemic hybrid schedules, a smart recognition that riders were going back to the office — but often not commuting five days a week.

When the MTA first unveiled the program, it was part of an array of new options offered to transit, bus and commuter rail riders. With the announcement came an array of digital display advertisements to share the news with riders.

The broad effort, the ads said, would make subways, buses and the commuter railroads "More affordable, More flexible, More fair."

The campaign was a good one — telling riders what was coming, encouraging them to take advantage of it.

But when the MTA board decided to eliminate the 20-Trip Ticket as part of its larger upcoming fare increases, no such ads emerged. No ticket holder received an email or notice. And perhaps unsurprisingly, there were no digital ads saying: "Less affordable. Less flexible. Less fair."

Instead, the potential change was noted in MTA board meetings and news releases — which riders generally wouldn't have seen. 

The fare-related public hearings did mention the plan to eliminate the program. According to the MTA, no one commented about the elimination of the 20-trip ticket. But how would anyone know to comment about the program's disappearance if the only way they'd know about it was by attending that very hearing?

The MTA said the LIRR's 20-trip ticket discount cost the authority $6.7 million a year. Those funds, MTA officials said, help the authority to preserve the 10% discount on monthly passes, which, it said, more customers prefer. The goal, an MTA spokesman said, is to provide discounts for "folks who are using the system most and need the system most."

When a program like the 20-trip ticket works, and the circumstances that led to it — like hybrid work schedules — remain, there's no reason to eliminate it. Now, it's up to the MTA board to take another look and aim to reinstate the effort or something similar. Suffolk County board member Sammy Chu told the editorial board he was re-evaluating the decision to eliminate the program and looking at potential alternatives. That's a good step. The board should listen — and make the right move — by reinstating the ticket or providing an otherwise similar discount, in the right way — as quickly as possible.