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Get Serious on Fare Evasion

Posted 1/29/21

To the Editor: Fare increases for the MTA NYC Transit bus, subway and Staten Island Railway, along with Long Island Rail Road and Metro North Rail Road, were already assumed in 2019 as part of the approval process for the $51 billion 2020-2024 Five Year Capital Plan. Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio and members of the State Legislature and NYC Council were all in on this financial arrangement before signing on board. This included 4% increases in 2021 and 2023. How will the MTA make up for this lost revenue?.

Receipt of the two previous CARE Covid-19 bailouts adding up to $8 billion and a potential third bailout from Washington under a future Federal Transit Administration grant were not meant to pay for cancellation or reduction of any transit agencies' previously planned fare increases. They are suppose to cover unforeseen operating and capital costs as a result of COVID-19. Did the MTA ever ask FTA for permission to use these funds to offset previously scheduled fare increased whose purpose was to help pay for the $51 billion Five Year Capital Plan?

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