Governor Cuomo Can Stop Runaway MetroCard Fare Hikes

Yesterday, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released his office's annual financial report on the MTA. The report found that in the eight-year span ending in 2015, the cost of a MetroCard will have gone up 35 percent.

"The time is now for Governor Cuomo to save New York's transit riders from having the MTA's budget balanced on their backs," said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "While New Yorkers pay more and more at the turnstile, elected officials in Albany have raided hundreds of millions of dollars in transit funding. Governor Cuomo is an outspoken proponent of investing in our state's infrastructure. More than seven million New Yorkers ride this city's buses and subways every day, and we are looking to him to save us from more fare hikes by increasing the state's investment in public transit."

A December 2011 poll from Quinnipiac University found that a majority of New York City residents want the state government to provide more funding for public transit. But over the last three years, the state government raided a total of $260 million from dedicated transit funding. As a result of the ongoing revenue crisis, New Yorkers are saddled with the highest fare burden in the nation and the capital plan, which will make overdue station rehabs and track repairs, is $10 billion in the red.

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