Pols rally to ‘Halt the Hike’

Halt the hike, proclaimed Queens politicians recently at a rally in midtown.
“Any kind of fare hike, now or later, will put a difficult burden on working families who rely on the service every day to get to work and school. Before we allow the New Yorkers who are the backbone of this city bear the brunt of another fare hike, we must make sure that every other option has been exhausted first,” said State Senator John Sabini.
Sabini was one of four borough elected officials to join the Working Families Party and the Straphangers Campaign to protest a proposed fare hike on Sunday, December 9. Also on hand were Assemblymember Rory Lancman and Councilmembers Eric Gioia and John Liu.
Although the base cost of a single ride on city buses and trains would remain at $2, according to the proposal released by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) on Monday, December 10, the price for monthly passes would increase by 6.6 percent to $81. A weekly card would increase by 4.2 percent from $24 to $25, and a two-week, $47 MetroCard would be created. The one-day pass would go up by 50 cents. According to critics of the proposal, those who pay per ride account for 14 percent of subway and bus fares.
Although the minimum amount to qualify for a free ride will drop to $7 from $10, riders would get less of a bang for their bucks on bonus fares for pay-for-rides. Instead of a 20 percent bonus, straphangers would receive 15 percent.
The MTA Board, of which Mayor Michael Bloomberg controls four votes, is scheduled to vote on the proposed hike, which would raise estimated revenue for the agency by nearly 4 percent, on Wednesday, December 19. Bloomberg and Governor Eliot Spitzer have already expressed support for the plan.
Earlier this year, Sabini drafted a letter to MTA Chairman H. Dale Hemmerdinger, which was signed by 23 Senate minority colleagues. The letter urged the agency to freeze the fare hike until a long-range transportation plan is developed.
The Straphangers Campaign and the Working Families Party have also created a website - www.haltthehike.org - with news updates and an online petition asking the Mayor and Governor to halt the proposed hike.