[title]
Since 2009, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has been voting on fare and toll increases every two years. Although strapped for cash and financially crushed by the plummeting ridership caused by COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders, the agency decided to postpone raising fares in 2021 "for several months."
"The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked economic havoc—devastating the MTA's ridership and revenues and bringing them to levels far worse than the Great Depression," MTA Chairman Pat Foye said in an official statement. "It has also hit people of color and low income communities hardest, many of whom are the very same essential workers that have been on the frontlines of this crisis and who are also most dependent on mass transit."
Foye also mentioned hopes to receive federal aid following the election of now-President Joe Biden. Specifically, the Chairman explained that "the MTA has hope for $8 billion in additional pandemic relief and continued federal investment in mass transit in 2021 and beyond."
Although no official decision had been made, CBS reports that the now-postponed fare hikes were set to increase prices by 4%. The outlet also reports that, given that car traffic has only dropped by about 16%, the toll changes on the agency's seven bridges and two tunnels are still expected to rise.
And so, although there aren't that many places to go to these days, keep enjoying your $2.75 subway fare for now. You never know when things might change.
Most popular on Time Out
- New York to resume indoor dining—except NYC
- The Empire State Building will flash a red heartbeat for Covid-19 memorial
- New York is replacing the Port Authority Bus Terminal
- 20 ways to make yourself better this January
- A giant clock in Queens is counting down how long Trump has left in office
Want to know what’s cool in the city before your friends do? Sign up to our newsletter for the latest and greatest from NYC and beyond.