MTA Board To Vote On Fare Increases
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NEW YORK – A budget plan that would raise subway and bus fares next year is up for a vote before the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority this week after an MTA committee yesterday decided to pass it along without an opinion for or against it.
The New York City Transit Committee vote on the 2005 budget was tied, 4-4, so it goes to the MTA board for a vote on Thursday without a recommendation, MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said.
The budget includes fare hikes for 30-day unlimited-ride MetroCards from $70 to $76, for seven-day Metro-Cards from $21 to $24, and for express bus rides from $4 to $5. The plan also calls for closing 164 station booths and cutting off-peak bus service. The $2 subway base fare remains the same.
The MTA has said the fare increase, the second in two years, is necessary to deal with upcoming budget shortfalls, including more than $1 billion for 2006. The MTA chairman, Peter Kalikow, has said the increases alone would not be enough to close the gap, and he has proposed raising $900 million in new annual tax revenue to pay for improvements to the transit system, the nation’s largest.