Tolls and fares on MTA subways and buses will increase a total of 4% sometime in the coming year, part of the funding for the agency’s expected $19.9 billion operating budget, according to a financial plan approved by the MTA’s board on Wednesday
Together, subway fares, bus fares, commuter rail tickets and bridge and tunnel tolls are expected to account for 39% of the MTA’s operational funding next year, the single largest revenue stream aside from tax revenue.
It was not immediately clear which fares or tolls would go up in 2025, nor by how much. If the 4 percent were to be spread evenly, the current fare of $2.90 would increase to just above $3.
Subway and bus fares last went up in 2023, when New Yorkers were asked to pony up an additional 15 cents per ride, from $2.75 to the current fare of $2.90.
The price of a swipe had stayed steady in 2021, when tolls went up but fares on subways, buses and commuter rails did not.
Similarly, in 2019, the MTA kept the single-swipe price at $2.75 by getting rid of a 5% bonus for putting multiple rides on a MetroCard and increasing Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North fares as well as bridge and tunnel tolls.
The MTA has sought to raise its farebox yield by 4% every two years since 2010, part of a plan put in place by then-Lt. Gov. and former MTA chairman Dick Ravitch.
“Usually there would be no [fare] increase, because politicians have that preference,” current MTA chair Janno Lieber said Wednesday. “And then there would be a crisis and they would have to raise the fare by 20%”
“We’re trying to make sure that little, incremental fare increases that don’t break anyone’s pocketbook are part of the picture,” Lieber said.
Any farebox hike would need to be explicitly voted on by the board, a vote that is not expected until the summer of 2025, after the state legislature votes on a budget that includes funding for the MTA’s operating costs.
Gov. Hochul and lawmakers in Albany took a chunk out of 2023’s planned fare hike by increasing the state’s payroll mobility tax. Asked if that might happen again next year, Hochul indicated it was a possibility.
“I was able to push off a fare increase already,” Hochul told reporters. “Believe me, if I know how to stop something, I do it.”
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