By Philip Newman
It’s official – the cost of taking buses and subways is going up for the third time in as many years.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board met in special session Thursday and approved the fare hikes by a vote of 12-2 after more than an hour of discussion. The base fare for a single bus and subway ride goes up by a quarter to $2.50.
Under the new fare schedule, the 30-day unlimited MetroCard climbs from $89 to $104 and the weekly unlimited card rises from $27to $29.
On the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North railroad the average fare hikes will be from 7.6 percent to 11.5 percent
MTA board member Norman Seabrook and Patrick Foye voted against the fare hikes.
MTA Chairman Jay Walder said raising fares was the only choice with his agency facing an $800 million budget gap and no financial help from city, state or federal government.
The higher fares will kick in Dec.30.
