NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – There will be no MTA fare hikes or service cuts for the foreseeable future thanks to the infrastructure bill that lawmakers passed in Washington, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday.
Hochul made the announcement hours before President Joe Biden was set to sign the $1.2 trillion bill into law at the White House on Monday afternoon. The governor and Mayor Bill de Blasio are among those attending the signing.
“I’m really excited to say that we will not have to raise the fares or have any service cuts,” Hochul said at an Albany briefing before departing for Washington. “The service cuts that were planned for 2023, 2024 are now off the table for MTA commuters, so this is important.”
The infrastructure bill sets aside roughly $14 billion for transit in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It should help green-light projects like the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan and the new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey.
Speaking on 1010 WINS on Monday, the MTA’s acting chairman, Janno Lieber, said there will be no fare hikes in the “near term” as part of the budget that the MTA is putting forward for 2022.
“We were supposed to do it in 2021. We put it off, partly at the urging of the governor, and now we’re putting it off again,” Lieber said. “The bottom line is the governor is saying, ‘We want riders back. We want to support the economy’s recovery. We don’t need fare hikes at this time.’ What she’s also called on us at the MTA to do, and which we are heeding in our budget, is to put off service cuts through the whole five-year plan. Bottom line is we’re not going to raise the fare in the near term and we’re not going to be cutting service, and we want our riders back.”
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