(The following story by Joie Tyrrell appeared on the Newsday website on October 29.)
NEW YORK — Peter Kalikow, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman who has previously proposed routine fare hikes for the city’s subways and buses, said Thursday that Long Island Rail Road commuters could face similar increases every four years as well.
“It is a more equitable way to do it,” said Kalikow, adding that commuters could face price hikes every four years and reductions in discounts every two years. “It’s more reasonable than going seven years without an increase and then — bang — having a big increase.”
The MTA oversees city buses and subways, the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad, which serves Westchester County and Connecticut suburbs.
Meanwhile, state Comptroller Alan Hevesi issued a report Thursday saying the MTA’s financial woes are mostly the result of its eagerness to borrow in past years and “bad management.”
“If the only solution is constantly rising fares and constantly declining service, the result will be fewer riders and less revenue. That’s a prescription for disaster,” Hevesi said.
For LIRR commuters, there will almost certainly be a fare hike next year, Kalikow said.
“We’re obligated to have a balanced budget and that is the way I balance the ’05 budget,” he said. The LIRR’s last increases came last year, and averaged 25 percent.
In the LIRR fare proposals, the MTA is calling for price hikes on the monthly railroad ticket — used by the bulk of LIRR ridership — of 5 to 10 percent. A one-way off peak fare could jump 20 percent and a one-way rush hour ticket could rise by up to 11 percent. The board will vote in December and the fare hikes could go into effect in March.
The plan also calls for reducing station and car cleaning.
For riders of New York subways and buses, as well as Long Island Bus passengers, the price of 30-day unlimited ride MetroCards could jump to between $76 and $84 and seven-day unlimited ride cards could rise to as much as $24. The agency also proposes closing 164 token booths.
Many protesters at the meeting Thursday focused on the city’s subways and buses, but almost all seemed united in a call for more funding from Albany. With contributions to the capital plan dwindling, the MTA borrowed hugely to pay its costs. Next year, debt service alone reaches more than $1 billion and is expected to grow to more than $1.4 billion in 2006.
Hevesi’s report found that because the MTA stopped producing legally required five-year financial plans between September 1999 and October 2003, the public and its elected officials were prevented from seeing the ramifications of its huge borrowing.
In addition, the report said the MTA has not done enough internally to reduce costs without affecting riders.
In 2006, the MTA’s financial picture is even more dire, with the prospect of the LIRR closing three lines — the Oyster Bay branch, the West Hempstead branch and the line east of Ronkonkoma to Greenport.