12 OCTOBER 25, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Finding a transit bargain in Queens
Should a Long Island Rail Road
ticket to points within Queens
and Brooklyn cost the same as a
subway ride?
For City Comptroller Scott Stringer,
the answer to that question is a resounding
yes. Last week, he put forth
a plan to equalize subway/bus fares
and trips on the LIRR or Metro-North
Railroad within the city limits.
There are many questions to be answered
about such a plan. How much
will it cost long term? How will it be
funded? Can the commuter rails handle
the demands of extra ridership?
Stringer seemed to suggest that
the plan could be an option for commuters
who use the 30-day unlimited
MetroCard. Currently, purchasers
shell out $121 for as many subway
and bus rides they want over a 30-day
period.
Stringer suggests that they could
get the same access to the LIRR and
Metro-North within the city limits
for an additional $29 a month, raising
that price to $150.
Commuters always grumble at the
thought of a higher cost of public
transit, but a golden ticket to subways,
buses and commuter rail at that suggested
retail price is a steal.
Consider this: a Laurelton resident
who needs to get to Bayside generally
relies upon a slow, unreliable bus
system. If they wanted to avoid that,
they could take the LIRR from Laurelton
to Woodside, then transfer to
a Port Washington-bound LIRR train
to Bayside.
The LIRR is broken up into many
diff erent fare zones, and the price
jumps as you travel between them.
Laurelton and Bayside are in zone 3,
but Woodside is in zone 1. That means
our traveler would have to pay for
two trips between the zones, which
comes out to roughly $15 for a single
trip. That’s not counting peak-hour
surcharges.
Even if you make just the trip between
Woodside to Bayside by LIRR,
you’re traveling through two diff erent
zones. A 10-day pass costs $63.75
off -peak, and a monthly pass is $218.
Add that on top of a 30-day unlimited
MetroCard ($121), and you’re spending
more than $325 a month just to get
around.
The MTA and city already has a discounted
LIRR program within the city
through the Atlantic Ticket program,
but that only covers trips between
southern Queens and the Atlantic Terminal
in Brooklyn. Undoubtedly, its
long-term future depends on whether
enough people buy into it to make it
economically feasible for commuters,
the MTA and the city alike.
Whether Stringer’s equalized fare
plan can work remains to be seen,
but we think that the city and MTA
should work on a plan to make it much
cheaper for Queens residents to use
a combination of subways, buses and
commuter rails to get around.
EDITORIAL
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THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
Queens residents should pay a
MetroCard fare for a ride on the
Long Island Rail Road, Stringer
says
SUMMARY:
City Comptroller Scott Stringer
unveiled a plan on Oct. 16 that would
lower all commuter rail fares to equal
the current MetroCard fare of $2.75
and allow for free transfers between
railways, subways and buses.
REACH:
21,996 people (as of 10/22/18)
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