Ema Alice: The MTA’s latest rate hike went into effect Sunday and exasperated penny-pinching straphangers forced to fork over even the 10 more cents per ride were shaking their heads at the extra expense.
Subway rides will now cost $3 per swipe — up from the $2.90 established in 2023. “I just know it’s gonna add up,” said Mayan Crampton, 23, who regularly commutes into Manhattan from his New Jersey home in Hoboken. Phaedra Phaded, 33, who regularly commutes from Chinatown in Manhattan, said, “It’s f–ked. “I don’t get paid enough for this. The hike is crazy.” Her friend, 41-year-old Seana Steele, thought the MTA could focus on making better use of the funds it is already generating instead of asking New Yorkers to fork over even a dime more.
“The MTA constantly misappropriates funds. Instead of installing new turnstile, they could actually improve the service,” Steele said, referring to the transit system’s seemingly endless attempts to deter fare jumpers who cost the MTA more than $400 million in lost fares last year.
“They’re so concerned about people jumping the turnstile. If [rides] were more affordable and available to everyone, that wouldn’t be an issue,” Steele said, adding that in the past she’s been in positions where the fare increase “certainly could have affected me.” The most recent increase comes as the future of the MTA remains unclear, with new Mayor Zohran Mamdani having vowed to follow through on his campaign promise of making the city’s bus system completely free.
His plan would cost the system about $700 million, which Mamdani said he would pay by raising taxes on corporations and high-earning individuals.
Some hopeful New York lawmakers also think straphangers need relief from commuter prices.
“Let’s be clear, we need to freeze fares — not raise them,” said New York state Comptroller candidate Adem Bunkeddeko. “The cost of everything is going up, and what working people don’t need right now is to pay more just to get around.”
Sunday’s fare increase is the MTA’s second in just over 10 years. Before the 2023 hike to $2.90, the fare was raised to $2.75 — up from $2.50 — in 2015.
“It always feels bad,” ” said 71-year-old David Spectra, who recalled numerous fare hikes in his day. “It felt bad when it went from 15 cents to 20 cents.
“It’s just another New York City thing.”
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BP/SM
