{"id":160031,"date":"2025-08-20T03:04:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T03:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/160031\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T03:04:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T03:04:10","slug":"nyc-straphangers-fume-over-greedy-mtas-latest-fare-hike-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/160031\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC straphangers fume over ‘greedy’ MTA’s latest fare hike proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Big Apple residents vented about the MTA\u2019s latest planned fare hike<\/a> during a public hearing Tuesday evening \u2014 blasting the \u201cgreedy\u201d transit agency while complaining about the state of the subway system. <\/p>\n

\u201cYour entire plan is bulls\u2013t,\u201d straphanger Emmanuel Vasquez fumed to MTA officials at the Brooklyn New York City Transit Authority Office.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn increase to three dollars \u2026 are you delusional?\u201d the John Jay College student railed at the hearing that attracted roughly 100 New Yorkers. <\/p>\n

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber speaks to the media before a hybrid hearing on proposed fare changes at MTA Headquarters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

The cash-strapped MTA is set to\u00a0squeeze commuters even more by Jan. 4, 2026, raising the city\u2019s subway and bus fare to $3 \u2014 a 10-cent increase to the current fare after the agency last jacked up the price in the middle of 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always flooding, there\u2019s always a brake emergency, there\u2019s always a power outage. And you\u2019re expecting me to pay more for this crap? \u2026You cannot see the reality that is going on in this subway,\u201d Vasquez raged as moderators told him to silence the cursing.<\/p>\n

Other commuters argued the latest planned fare hike proves inconsistent with the current conditions underground \u2014 including fare evaders, unreliable travel times and flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are still jumping over the turnstiles. It\u2019s like a circus. So the millions of dollars that have been installed in the train stations, it doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s working \u2026 I\u2019m just tired of being tired,\u201d said Lynette Rushmore.<\/p>\n

Partial view of MTA Headquarters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just not seeing anything that\u2019s been elevated in our transit system to date in 2025. I don\u2019t see anything that\u2019s a benefit to the commuter. I\u2019m frustrated\u00a0because of all of the inconsistencies.\u201d Rushmore said.<\/p>\n

Fare evasion across the Big Apple\u2019s subway system decreased modestly<\/a> to 9.8% through the first quarter of this year compared to the 13.6% of turnstile jumpers during the same span in 2024.<\/p>\n

The slight decrease comes despite the MTA installing\u00a0new spikes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0flaps at subway entrances<\/a>\u00a0in hopes of forcing straphangers to pay the $2.90 fee.<\/p>\n

Some straphangers at Tuesday night\u2019s hearing even argued they understood why turnstile hoppers choose to evade the fare.<\/p>\n

Members of the public speak during testimony at a hybrid hearing on proposed fare changes at MTA Headquarters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen an agency more inefficient, more incompetent, more greedy than the MTA.\u201d said lifelong New Yorker Serenjo Persaud. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day, people hop the gate. If I want to go to my job or any occasion on time, there is always a delay in service every single day,\u201d Persaud\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I hate to admit it, but we do hop. There\u2019s a reason we do it. And there\u2019s a mass greed in the MTA \u2026 A power outage, a malfunction over here. Enough is enough. I\u2019ve never seen more greed, greed, greed than in the MTA,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kristian <\/strong>Joseph, 28, was one of multiple members from \u201cThe Fare Ain\u2019t Fare Group,\u201d organized by the Brooklyn-based Pan-African human rights organization dubbed the \u201cDecember 12th Movement,\u201d who were present at the meeting.<\/p>\n

Janno Lieber (center), John J. McCarthy, and Shanifah Rieara, listen to public testimony during a hybrid hearing on proposed fare changes at MTA Headquarters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

Joseph claimed his group has collected roughly 2,000 signatures opposed to the recent hike on an online petition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a smack in the face of the working class, because the MTA is very aware, and everyone is very aware, that the cost of living is continuing to rise and rise and rise in every facet of all the necessities that we purchase in order to live,\u201d Joseph told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so the fare hike, it just piles on in terms of the increasing burdens on the working people of this city,\u201d the fed-up commuter said.<\/p>\n

Some MTA leaders trivialized the fare hike when it was revealed last month at an MTA board meeting. <\/p>\n

MTA Chairman Janno Lieber (center) and board members listen to testimony from mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa during a hybrid hearing on proposed fare changes at MTA Headquarters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not call this a hike,\u201d board member\u00a0Neal Zuckerman had said. \u201cI think we\u2019re raising\u00a0it 4.4% for the first time in two and a half years and that\u2019s pretty generous.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very gradual raise and I think very respectful of the inflation and affordability issues,\u201d Zuckerman argued. <\/p>\n

Drivers, who already are dealing with congestion pricing fees, would also be walloped with toll increases for various bridges and tunnels around the tristate area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tolls would jump\u00a0from $6.94 to $7.46 on the RFK, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazzano bridges along with the Queens-Midtown and Hugh Carey tunnels.<\/p>\n

John J. McCarthy, (left), Quemuel Arroyo, and Janno Lieber (right) chat following a hybrid hearing on proposed fare changes at MTA Headquarters in Brooklyn on Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post<\/p>\n

Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North riders will also face a 4.4% increase for one-way, weekly, and monthly tickets if the MTA board approves the new rates later this year.<\/p>\n

Mayor Eric Adams called the current fare \u201calready too high for many\u201d and urged board members to reject the proposal when it goes to a vote in the fall.<\/p>\n

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\u201cProposing a fare hike without\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0meaningful improvements is offensive to hard-working New Yorkers, and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0why\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0urging all board appointees to vote no on this proposal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe strongly oppose this fare increase and remain committed to fighting for a more affordable and\u00a0equitable\u00a0city.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed increase comes as the MTA is on track to notch $500 million from congestion pricing so far this year \u2013 though the agency continues to struggle to slow fare evasion that costs it about $700 million yearly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big Apple residents vented about the MTA\u2019s latest planned fare hike during a public hearing Tuesday evening \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":160032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,5248,9904,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,31145,92787,28715,67,586,132,5230,68,1154,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-160031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-metro","10":"tag-mta","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkcity","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-nyc-transit","18":"tag-subway-fare","19":"tag-subways","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-us-news","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115058878953576931","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}