MTA to Hold Hearing on Planned Fare Hike; Intense Opposition Seen

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board will hold a public hearing Saturday on a planned increase in bus and rail fares that is expected to generate intense opposition.

The increase would affect a broad array of MTA fees, including the basic cash fare, discount tokens, monthly, semimonthly and weekly passes, and passes used by senior citizens, students and the disabled.

Although the MTA board has not approved the increase, the directors have adopted a $2.5-billion budget for the new fiscal year that includes an additional $10.2 million in revenue from the higher fares.

When the budget was approved in May, the board asked MTA Chief Executive Officer Julian Burke to explore other ways to balance the ledger but refused to rule out a fare increase.

The Bus Riders Union is strongly opposed to the increase and is organizing its members to attend the 10 a.m. hearing at the MTA’s Gateway Center headquarters next to Union Station.

Eric Mann, leader of the group, said the union not only will oppose the increase but will demand that the MTA lower existing fares to 50 cents and institute a $20 monthly pass.

Mann said bus and rail riders particularly object to the imposition of higher fares while the MTA board is in federal court challenging a consent decree it signed that requires reductions in overcrowding and improvements in bus service.

MTA spokesman Marc Littman said the agency has not raised fares since February 1995 and needs the additional funds to support the bus and rail systems.

Littman insisted that MTA bus service is improving with the arrival of new buses and conversion of the troubled ethanol fleet to diesel power.

Burke proposed an increase in cash fares last year but abandoned the idea because of opposition and the poor condition of the bus system. The first date that the consent decree allows for an increase in the price of the popular passes is Nov. 1, the effective date for all the proposed changes.

If the board approves the increase, the basic cash fare would rise from $1.35 to $1.45 and discount tokens would increase a nickel to 95 cents.

The monthly pass would increase by $3 to $45, the semimonthly pass by $1 to $22, and the weekly pass by $1 to $12.

The price of passes for senior citizens and the disabled would increase $1 to $13. Passes for students in kindergarten through high school also would increase by $1 to $21. College or vocational school students would see the price of their passes rise by $2 to $32.

The MTA is not proposing any changes in the price of transfers, discount cash fares for senior citizens or the disabled, or the late-night discount fare.

Littman noted that the basic fare is $1.50 on the New York City, Chicago and Atlanta transit systems, all of which operate with lower subsidies than the MTA.

The New York City transit system recovers 66% of its costs through the fare box. Fares on the Chicago system cover 46% of operating costs.

But in Los Angeles, Littman said, fares cover only 29% of the MTA’s operating expense because of the extensive discount programs. The subsidy is greater for the MTA’s rail lines than the bus system.

Littman said the MTA recovers an average of only 59 cents per passenger boarding because nearly 47% of its riders use discount passes that allow unlimited rides.

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Proposed MTA Increases

A public hearing will be held Saturday on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s first proposed fare increases in four years. If the MTA board approves the array of higher fees, the would take effect Nov. 1.

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Cash fares Present Proposed Basic $1.35 $1.45 Discount tokens $.90 $.95 Passes Monthly $42 $45 Semimonthly $21 $22 Weekly $11 $12 College students $30 $32 Students (kindergarten-12) $20 $21 Senior citizens $12 $13 Disabled $12 $13

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