Riders Pay More than their 'Fare' Share

New York Post
by Clement Lisi

January 6, 2003 -- Ever wonder how much of your $1.50 goes toward the operating costs of city buses and subways?

While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is on track to raise fares to as much as $2 this year, bus and subway riders already pay for a whopping 63 percent of the system's operating costs - the highest in the country among large cities.

And when fares go up, the MTA's 7 million bus and subway riders can expect to shoulder an even bigger burden.

"We're already paying for more than our fair share," said Gene Russianoff, a lawyer for the Straphangers Campaign transit advocacy group. "That average will shoot through the roof, if the fare goes to $2."

The statistic, known as the farebox recovery ratio and compiled by the Federal Transit Administration, calculates the amount of system operating costs covered by fares.
In November, the MTA announced it needed to raise the fare to plug a $1.1 billion budget gap this year. Fares last went up, by 25 cents, in 1995.

Riders who use the MTA's two suburban commuter rails also take on a lot of the burden. Metro-North riders pay for 61 percent, while LIRR customers pay for 53 percent.

But straphangers who use buses and subways in other cities don't pay nearly as much to fund their transit systems.

The MTA has said a fare hike would not hurt straphangers because the average price of a single ride is down to about $1.04 because of unlimited-MetroCard discounts.

But Russianoff said not everyone can afford to pay for unlimited MetroCards.
"The burden on the riders is already high with the discounts," he said.

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