(The following story by Alfonso A. Castillo appeared on the Newsday website on May 11, 2009.)
NEW YORK — The MTA’s vote Monday to undo its “doomsday” fare hikes may have spared Long Island Rail Road riders an average increase of $55 a month, but LIRR customers may still see some service cuts they had hoped to avoid – including the potential elimination of several ticket agents at stations.
Days after state lawmakers voted to bail out the Metropolitan Transportation Authority from its record deficit, the MTA Board voted 11 to 2 Monday to rescind its previously adopted 23 percent hike in fare revenues.
In its place, the board voted to adopt the state legislature’s plan to raise fares 10 percent across the board this year, and 7.5 percent more in 2011 and 2013.LIRR riders will be the first of the MTA’s customers to see their commuting costs jump, ranging from 9.75 percent to 10.75 percent. The average LIRR commuter will pay an extra $21.50 a month instead of the originally proposed $55 monthly increase, LIRR officials said.
The increases take effect June 17. Monthly LIRR commuters will not see the increases until they buy their July pass.
Fare hikes on subways and buses, including Long Island Bus, take effect June 28. Their base fares will all increase from $2 to $2.25. Monthly MetroCards will go from $81 to $89.
The board is expected to vote on May 27 to rescind all of the cuts in scheduled service to riders, including on the LIRR, which was in danger of losing weekend service to West Hempstead, reducing afternoon trains out of Port Washington from half-hourly to hourly service, and which had already lost daily service to Belmont.
However, MTA officials said that Albany lawmakers are still calling for a significant reduction in expenses from the agency, so the MTA is expected to go forth with plans to reduce station agents at some subway stops and ticket agents and cleaning crews at some LIRR stations.
The MTA’s previously adopted budget called for shuttering 20 LIRR ticket stations throughout Queens and Long Island.
LIRR officials said they still don’t know whether ticket offices will close under the new plan.
LIRR Commuter’s Council chairman Gerard Bringmann said that while he was under the impression that the Albany bailout would mean the restoration of all service cuts, he could not fault the MTA for looking to make the LIRR leaner.
“I’d rather them make the savings there than cut a train,” he said.
Outgoing MTA chief Elliot Sander, who announced his resignation last week, called the rescue “the best solution possible in the current economic climate.”
Although he voted yes, MTA board member Mitchell Pally of Stony Brook said the bailout package “discriminates” against Long Island. Specifically, he said, the package increases taxes to employers without giving much back, such as a regional bus authority to consolidate and improve bus systems in Nassau and Suffolk. “This is worse for Long Island, for sure,” Pally said.