Good evening, I’m Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, PCAC.
We support incremental, predictable fare increases to keep our trains and buses operating frequently and reliably. Without them, we’d be in the same desperate position as Philly and Chicago: facing severe service cuts and drastic price increases.
We also support the switch to OMNY and look forward to its integration with TrainTime. We’re grateful you’ve included our longstanding recommendation to allow seniors, disabled and Medicare-eligible riders to use their discounts in the A.M. Peak on the railroads. It will be life changing. The fare cap on express buses is another good addition.
You’ve heard or will hear from our members and other riders across the system about additional opportunities to make the proposed fare increases more palatable:
- A CityTicket Weekly with transfers to subways and buses;
- Combine the current five city zones into one, so the cost of a weekly or monthly doesn’t vary on a railroad within the city;
- A unified city zone to allow riders to travel between railroads within the city;
- Keeping the 10-trip on the railroads. Without it, 10 off-peak rides could go up as much as 23%;
- A 30- and single-day fare cap to keep prices lower for the most regular riders;
- A mid-kid, family friendly fare for 12-17-year-olds that makes it less expensive to ride the railroads than drive;
- Urging the city to increase Fair Fares to 200% FPL, combined with expanding it to the railroads in the city;
- A dialogue about the four-hour auto-activation that satisfies riders and workers and addresses the fare evasion issue it purports to address;
- More hearings across the region with more time to comment – and more Board members present. Don’t rush a vote, please discuss, deliberate, and reconsider some of these important policies.
Transit is the lifeblood of our region, supporting the economy that reaches far beyond the MTA borders. Keeping it on track is critical: the fare increase will help. Please help support riders as well by listening to these common and commonsense pleas.
Thank you.