(Newsday.com posted the following article by Joie Tyrrell on its website on March 7.)
NEW YORK — A new commuter who has been riding the rails for only four months, Vivian Garcia Murray may soon be at the end of the line on the Long Island Rail Road.
The legal secretary who works in Manhattan now pays for her monthly ticket from Ronkonkoma to the city as well as a ticket for her son, who attends school there. It’s a cost of $400 a month.
But with the 25 percent average hike for the railroad and a $2 subway fare approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board Thursday, Murray said she could be looking for work elsewhere. She earns about $60,000 a year and moved from Queens to Ronkonkoma after she bought a home.
“I don’t want to leave my job, but … it is going to be impossible for me to ride this train, said Murray, who also takes the subway to work. “I don’t know how we are doing it. I work a lot of overtime now.
Her commuting costs will escalate by more than $100 a month for the Ronkonkoma line, which she said has experienced numerous delays and problems.
“It is always late and it is taking me two hours for my commute, said Murray, who signed a petition circulated by riders from the Ronkonkoma line saying that service is poor and they won’t tolerate an increase. “They are making it impossible.
For Murray and scores of other LIRR commuters, the average 25 percent fare increase has them questioning the value of working in the city. Opponents of the fare hike have called it a “job killing tax that could force workers to look elsewhere for employment.
John Morr, a vice president of human resources who lives in Malverne, isn’t going to leave his company anytime soon, but Manhattan could be another story, he said. As commuting costs continue to grow and service remains stagnant on his line, he may work at home more often.
Morr pays $135 for a monthly ticket from the Westwood station in Malverne, and that ticket will go up to $169. He also takes the subway, so his cost of $3 a day will jump to $4. He doesn’t use any discounts.
His company, United Business Media, offers a program that enables its employees to work from home. Morr said some employees who commute have inquired about it.
He said he might apply, too.
“You find yourself running madly for a train and if you miss it, you are waiting 45 to 50 minutes, he said. “It’s a lousy deal.
The Rev. Moise Gabriel doesn’t have the option of working from home, but he could avoid the train if he wanted. He sometimes drives to his job in the city’s Human Resources Administration in Brooklyn from Wyandanch.
When he does take the train, he buys a weekly ticket which now costs $56 a week. He also takes the bus, paying $1.50 each way.
The 25-percent fare hike will likely push him into his car more often. A weekly tickets will cost him $72.
“I have no choice, said Gabriel, pastor of the New Alliance Baptist Church in Wyandanch. “When I get to work there is a church nearby and I use the parking space so I don’t have to park on the street.
Riders should reject the 25 percent increase, said Gabriel, who signed a petition for better service and a smaller fare hike.
“It doesn’t really make sense, he said of the increase.
Longtime commuter Mark Cassuto remembers when his monthly fare cost under $40 about three decades ago. With a 25 percent increase, it has jumped to more than $226 for the monthly ticket from Huntington. He walks to his office from Penn Station.
He said the increase won’t alter his commuting habits.
“I am forced to commute and they know it, he said. “I think all the management should take a cut in salary to save the Long Island Rail Road.
Cassuto, a sales executive from Dix Hills, said he sympathizes with younger riders, especially couples who are commuting and have to pay the increase twice. He routinely catches the 7:12 a.m. out of Huntington.
“It’s the biggest fare hike and it’s uncalled for, he said. “I would like to get in touch with Schumer, Hillary, 20/20.’ I sent a letter to Spitzer. Let’s see if they can investigate this here.