(The following article by Jonathan Lucas was published in the Greenwich Time on April 21.)
GREENWICH, Conn. — Connecticut rail commuters pay a greater share of railroad costs than any other commuter rail service in the country. Now, they are being asked to pay 15 percent more.
Starting tomorrow night, the state Department of Transportation will hold three public hearings on the proposed fare increase in New Haven, Fairfield and Stamford.
But don’t expect an emotional outcry from the public, said Jim Cameron, vice chairman of the Connecticut Metro-North/Shore Line East Rail Commuter Council.
“I think only a few people will show up at the public hearings,” Cameron said. “Most people view the increase as inevitable.”
The commuter council will vote on the proposed increase at its next meeting Wednesday night at the Landmark Square office of SACIA, The Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut.
The increase originally had been slated to take effect in October, but due to budget shortfall, the DOT plans to implement the fare hike July 1.
A 25 percent fare hike on New York rail commuters will take effect May 4.
Cameron said Connecticut rail commuters pay more because they earn more. He noted that the median income of Metro-North riders to New York is $135,000 a year and said most are not “fare sensitive.”
“It can be argued that this ridership doesn’t need transportation welfare payments,” Cameron said. “Why should people in other parts of the state subsidize this ridership?”
Harry Harris, chief of the DOT’s Bureau of Public Transportation, said the cost of fares is not based on the anticipated income of passengers, but is meant to reflect the true cost of operating the railroad given the number of riders each year.
Connecticut is far stingier than other states in offering subsidies for commuter rail. The state provides less than 25 percent of the cost of every passenger on Metro-North, or about $1.76 of the $7.49 cost of each trip.
Nationally, commuter rail subsidies average about 63 percent of the cost of every passenger. In New York, the state subsidizes 43 percent of the cost of Metro-North and 53 percent of the cost of every Long Island Railroad rider.
Harris said the state has always tried to keep pace with inflation, but added that there is no clear policy on providing subsidies.
Jon Orcutt, associate director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign transit advocacy group, said Connecticut’s transportation policy has not been very coherent.
He said as long as the state remains dependent on raising property and income taxes for transportation funds, it will never be able to improve its transportation system.
“The biggest problem with transit in Connecticut is that the state is dependent on funding transit operations out of its General Fund so funding is subject to budget whims and fluctuations,” Orcutt said. “Other states with transit have other dedicated funds and revenue streams that are not subject to budget fluctuations.”
Under the proposed increases, fares to and from New York would vary from 12.5 percent for a one-way ticket for riders on the Waterbury Branch to as much as 17 percent for commuters from Milford and Stratford under the proposal.
Commuters from Stamford will face a 15 percent increase to $11.50 on one-way tickets to New York and 14 percent for commuters at all four stations within Greenwich, raising the price to $10.25. Monthly commuter passes will increase nearly 15 percent in Stamford, from $218 to $250; and from $196 to $225 in Greenwich.
Cameron said the state’s plan to keep the fare increase for in-state riders below 12 percent makes sense since they usually earn less than their Manhattan-bound brethren.
One-way fares for in-state travel would go up as much as 11.5 percent for a ticket that now costs $6.50 from New Haven to Greenwich to as little as 5 percent for a $5 ticket from New Haven to South Norwalk. Fares would not increase for a ticket between Westport and Greenwich, which costs $3.25.
“Keeping intrastate fares low makes a lot of sense because it increases the train’s attractiveness in comparison to driving on the highway, and those are the people we want to persuade most to get out of their cars,” Cameron said.