The MTA has approved its financial plan that includes fare and toll hikes that could take effect next August.
The agency declined to say how much the fares and tolls would increase but it is expected the approx 4% increase will raise the base fare to $3.
Drivers will already increases in the cost of commute in the coming year with the implementation of congestion pricing on January 5, 2025.
“Transit is one of the very few things that makes New York affordable. We love the fact that you can go from the Rockaways to the north Bronx on one fare, and it’s a reasonable fare. We are trying to keep it that way,” Janno Lieber, MTA Chairman, said.
The MTA has consistently raised fares every other year, by roughly 4 percent, since 2009. An exception happened in 2021 when Gov. Kathy Hochel froze fares after the pandemic eroded ridership. Fare increases were back on schedule in 2023, rising from $2.75 to $2.90. A new hike is no surprise, says the MTA’s Rider Advisory Group.
“We know it’s coming every couple of years and we know it’s going to be four percent as opposed to NJ transit which imposed on its riders this summer a 15 percent fare increase, out of the blue,” Lisa Daglian of Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to MTA said.