Reminder from the MTA: Fares and Tolls to increase this Sunday, March 22

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is reminding the public that previously announced fare and toll increases will go into effect on Sunday. Details of the new fare and toll rates and ways to save are available at MTA.info along with a new MetroCard bonus calculator.

The increases are part of a pattern that began in 2009 for modest, predictable, regularly scheduled increases to take place every other year. A budget announcement in July 2014 confirmed that a fare increase would be needed in 2015. The details of this increase were proposed in mid-November and approved by the MTA Board in late January after a public hearing process that involved eight public hearings throughout the region, and four sessions that encouraged customers to create and submit videotaped comments for MTA review. The MTA Board selected options that offered better deals for the MTA’s most frequent customers.

New York City Subway, Buses, and Staten Island Railway

At 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, March 22, the base fare deducted when swiping a pay-per-ride MetroCard to ride the New York City Subway, local buses, and the Staten Island Railway will rise to $2.75. The cost of buying an unlimited-ride MetroCard after this time will rise to $116.50 for a 30-day unlimited and $31.00 for a 7-day unlimited. The base express bus fare will rise to $6.50.

Unlimited-ride MetroCards purchased before the fare increase takes effect must be activated by Sunday, March 29, to receive full value.  If activated on this date, 30-day MetroCards will be valid for travel through April 27 and 7-day MetroCards will be valid for travel through April 4.

Today, monthly tickets for the month of April go on sale at the new rates. On Sunday, the cost of buying one-way, round-trip and 10-trip tickets for the LIRR and for Metro-North trips that begin and end within New York State will rise about 4%, depending on the type of ticket purchased and the distance traveled.

Weekly tickets valid for March 28-April 3 will be the first weekly tickets sold at the new rate. Sales of those tickets begin Wednesday, March 25.

Customers should visit mta.info for details and ways to save.

MTA Bridges and Tunnels

Tolls at the nine facilities operated by the MTA will rise at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 22. The new one-way toll rate for automobiles crossing the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, Queens Midtown Tunnel, Robert F. Kennedy Bridge or Throgs Neck Bridge will be $5.54 with E-ZPass or $8.00 in cash. At the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, where eastbound travel is toll-free, the westbound toll rate for those not participating in the Staten Island Resident Discount program will rise to twice those amounts. Participating Staten Islanders receive discounts that are detailed on the MTA’s website.

For details on tolls charged to trucks, buses, motorcycles, or cars towing trailers, or for details on any of the new toll rates at the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Cross Bay Bridge and the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, visit mta.info. Drivers who have E-ZPasses through the New York Customer Service Center get significant discounts over cash in all cases.

 

 

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.