31 THE QUEENS COURIER • APRIL 15, 2022 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
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Making NYC’s transit system more equitable
BY JANNO LIEBER
My mission as the MTA’s chair and CEO is
to make sure that we’re leveraging every part
of the system to make public transportation
more accessible and equitable for New Yorkers.
While subways and buses tend to be the modes
of choice for most city residents, some could see
a greater benefi t from the commuter railroads.
Riders living in southeast Queens for example
letters & comments
THE PRICES ARE TOO
DAMN HIGH!
As most of us know, we are in a period
of infl ation.
Th e dictionary states that infl ation is an
excessive or persistent increase in the general
price of goods and services and, as a result,
it causes a decline in a person’s purchasing
power.
Well, to me, that means the prices are too
damn high!
Inflation is hurting many American
families who are struggling. It is also hurting
many senior citizens who must make choices
about buying medications, paying housing
costs or even buying food.
Being 72 years old, I’m a senior citizen and
understand that only too well.
I was in the supermarket, like I am on
every Saturday, buying food for my wife and
myself. Two years ago, our food budget was
$80 a week. Now, we average $120 to $130 a
week for the same food items!
We have a fi xed income and had to cut
things out to make ends meet.
Meanwhile, I have been working for the
same company for 42 years and now work
part time. I wonder if I could ever fully retire
with the high cost of living.
I’m asking President Biden and Congress,
as well as Mayor Adams and our local representatives,
to do something.
Th e prices are too damn high, and that
has to change!
Frederick R. Bedell Jr., Bellerose
A MILESTONE
ANNIVERSARY
April 15 marks the 75th anniversary
of Jackie Robinson playing his fi rst major
league baseball game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Th e anniversary represents a milestone
for integrating the sport.
It was a time working and middle-class
men and women of all ages, classes, races and
religions commingled in the stands rooting
for Jackie Robinson and his team mates
regardless of ethnic origin game aft er game.
Ordinary Brooklyn natives could ride the
bus, trolley or subway to Ebbets Field to see
their beloved Dodgers. Everyone could aff ord
a bleacher, general admission, reserve or box
seat. Hot dogs, beer, other refreshments and
souvenirs were reasonably priced.
Just as Jackie Robinson fought racism in
the 1950s, Detroit Tigers Hank Greenberg
had to do the same with antisemitism in his
time.
Robinson and Greenberg both document
the long-lasting relationship between
African Americans and Jewish sports fans
standing together for decades in support of
each other.
Larry Penner, Great Neck
could save up to an hour of travel time if
they opted for the Long Island Rail Road instead
of taking a bus and subway. Th at’s precious time
back to spend with friends and family. So why
don’t more people try it?
We know that historically price has been
the deciding factor in choosing a subway and
bus commute over the LIRR and Metro-North.
Th at’s why it was so important for us at the
MTA to consider intracity rail discounts when
developing our package of new fare promotions,
which were introduced last month.
We landed on an expansion of the existing
CityTicket to weekdays off -peak. Th e
CityTicket program provides a $5 fl at fare for
one-way trips taken wholly within the fi ve
boroughs – like from Woodlawn in the Bronx
to Grand Central Terminal or from Bayside to
Penn Station. Th e deal was previously available
on weekends only.
Demand for the new ticket is off to a good
start – more than 100,000 weekday CityTickets
have been sold since the launch – but I know
LONELY SATELLITES // PHOTO SUBMITTED BY KATRYN GRUSZECKI
Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper!
To submit them to us, tag @qnsgram on Instagram, visit our Facebook page,
tweet @QNS or email editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps).
we can do better. We’re going to continue
highlighting the benefi ts of CityTicket, our new
20-trip ticket (perfect for hybrid workers!) and
monthly ticket discounts (saves 10%), especially
as major service improvements come online for
both LIRR and Metro-North.
East Side Access, our marquee megaproject,
is going to bring LIRR service to Grand Central
for the fi rst time ever when completed later
this year. Th is will allow us to increase service
frequency by up to 30% at some stations.
Meanwhile, the Th ird Track project is adding
some much-needed LIRR capacity on the Mainline,
which serves Queens communities from
Woodside to Queens Village, and will provide
reverse commuters with more options given the
ability to run additional two-way service during
rush hours.
And we’re not forgetting about Bronx residents
who live in Metro-North territory. MTA
just awarded a contract for Penn Station Access,
the project to build four new MNR stations in
the East Bronx – a noted transit desert. Th e
new rail options at Hunts Point, Morris Park,
Co-op City and Parkchester/Van Nest will help
cut travel times to Manhattan by as much as
50 minutes.
It all comes back to our commitment to transit
equity – the driving force behind everything
we do at MTA.
Janno Lieber is chair and CEO of the MTA.
LETTERS POLICY
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may be republished in any format.
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