NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transit Authority delayed voting on a potential fare increase at its Thursday meeting, pushing back a decision for at least a month.
A unanimous vote (with one absention and one board member absent) tabled the vote until the Feb. 27 meeting.
“We need to change the thinking and the culture of how we operate the system to make sure there’s clear performance metrics tied to any potential future fare increase,” said board member Lawrence Schwartz, chair of the board’s finance committee. The delay will allow a month to devise alternatives.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken a hard line against any fare increase, which MTA sources estimate could generate an additional $30 million per month. As an example of the hike under consideration, a subway fare could possibly increase up to 10 percent over the current base fare of $2.75.
Also at the meeting:
— A vote had been expected on the new construction plan for the subway L train, which avoids the lengthy closure which had long been planned. [See “New York MTA emergency board meeting will result in Jan. 24 vote on the L Train’s future,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 17.] Acting MTA Chairman Fernando Ferrer, however, said there was no need for a new vote if the cost of the new plan was equal two or less than the amount that had been originally been budgeted. Full details of the new plan, which replaces a full closer of the 10-mie line between Manhattan and Brooklyn with partial closures, should be finalized soon.
— The board approved a $32 million contract with HNTB New York Engineering and Architecture for preliminary engineering and design of the Penn Station Access Program. The contract must also be approved by Amtrak’s board of directors.
The program will lead to four new stations in the East Bronx along the line from Penn Station to New Rochelle, N.Y., used for Amtrak Northeast Regional and Acela Trains [see “Bronx to get four new Metro-North stations,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 24, 2019] and additional tracks for the Hell Gate Bridge Line right-of-way. Actual track placement yet to be decided upon. Funding is available through the MTA’s 2015-2019 Capital Plan. Expected opening for this will be after 2022. When the vote was cast, it was mentioned the idea came from then-Bronx Borough President Ferrer thirty years ago.
— During the post-meeting press briefing, Trains News Wire asked Ferrer specifically about the timing and train slot availability of at Penn Station and Grand Central. With the East Side Access program bringing Long Island Rail Road trains into a new station under Grand Central Terminal, there may be additional capacity at both New York City stations. Ferrer said the East Side Access service must be fully operational before Penn Station Access service begins, and that once the East Side Access trains are running, “we will know how many slots we will have at Penn Station in a relatively short period of time.
“Those underutilized slots at Grand Central for trains that go into GCT are available for us to use for Metro-North, and others, perhaps. We’re not selfish.”
MTA spokesperson Aaron Donovan indicated plans for the new East Bronx Service were being formulated, and that the new Penn Station trains would mean additional service, not diversion of current trains from Grand Central.
