The price of a subway or bus ride in New York City will increase to three dollars next year, after the MTA board voted to approve a fare hike Tuesday. LIRR and Metro North commuter rail prices are also going up.
The fare increase, approved in an 11-0 vote, will go into effect in early January.
Subway and bus rides will go up ten cents, from $2.90 to $3.00, and be capped at $35 over a seven-day period with the OMNY fare-payment system.
Express bus fares will go up 25 cents — from $7 to $7.25 — and be capped at $67 over a seven-day period.
On the LIRR and Metro-North Railroad, single ticket prices would increase by an average of 4.4%, and a maximum of 8%. Monthly and weekly tickets will go up 4.5%. The increases do not apply to the lines west of the Hudson operated by New Jersey Transit.
The City Ticket, which allows for travel within New York City on the commuter railways, will increase by 25 cents: from $7 to $7.25 during peak hours, and from $5 to $5.25 during off-peak.
New York City’s subway and bus fare last went up in 2023, when it rose from $2.75 to the current fare of $2.90.
The hike is timed to coincide with the phasing-out of MetroCard in favor of the tap-to-pay OMNY system which can use tap-enabled smartphones and bank cards.
The hike also doubles the price of refillable, standalone OMNY cards — up to $2 from $1.
Fares account for roughly 26% of the MTA’s annual operating budget, which funds payroll, healthcare, overtime and other operational expenses.
“The overwhelming majority of these funds… pay for the people who run 24/7 service on subways and buses and commuter railroads,” said Jessie Lazarus, MTA’s deputy chief for commercial ventures.
The operating budget is separate from the agency’s five-year capital budget which pays for large-scale improvement and repair projects and is partially funded by New York City’s congestion-pricing tolls.
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