9 • TIMES, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 MTA Fares Going Up 4% This March Pay-Per-Ride Card Bonus Raised by Robert Pozarycki Commuters will need to dig deeper into their pockets for a train or bus ride this March, as the MTA approved last Thursday, Jan. 22, a four-percent fare hike. The base fare for New York City Transit subways and buses and Access-a-Ride trips will jump a quarter from $2.50 to $2.75. Those who purchase a Pay-Per- Ride MetroCard, however, will get an 11 percent bonus with a purchase of at least $5.50. As for Unlimited MetroCards, the price for a 30-day card will climb from $112 to $116.50, and the 7-day cards will increase by a buck, from $30 to $31. Express bus base fares will rise from $6 to $6.50, while 7-day Express Bus Plus MetroCard prices will climb from $55 to $57.25. It was noted that the $1 fee to purchase a new MetroCard will be unchanged. Ticket prices on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro- North Railroad will additionally increase by 4.25 percent or less. Drivers will also feel a greater squeeze, as the base car cash toll to travel the Robert F. Kennedy, Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges and the Hugh L. Carey and Queens Midtown Tunnels will rise from $7.50 to $8 each way. The E-ZPass toll will rise from $5.33 to $5.54. Meanwhile, tolls on the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges and the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridges will rise from $3.75 to $4 each way. The discounted toll for Rockaway residents will jump a nickel, from $1.31 to $1.36. “The MTA has been able to limit these fare and toll increases to the equivalent of two percent a year thanks to our continued aggressive cost-cutting, while still adding service and improving service quality for our growing number of customers,” said MTA President and CEO Thomas W. Prendergast. “Our financial plan assumes modest biennial fare and toll increases, and the board has chosen options with lower increases for our most frequent customers.” The changes will take effect on Mar. 22. ©Times Newsweekly - 2014 - UNIDENT
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