MTA goes public on fare hikes

Amid protests that transit fare hikes would hurt the poor and minorities, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority declined Thursday to rescind a series of rate increases scheduled for July 1, but scheduled a special meeting to allow public complaints.Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Unless the hikes are rescinded in a two-thirds board vote, the one-way cash fare for buses and trains will increase from $1.25 to $1.50, a daily pass will rise from $5 to $6 and the monthly pass will jump from $62 to $75. The fares for seniors, those with disabilities, Medicare recipients and students will remain the same through 2013.

A group representing bus riders said they are disappointed that the agency isn't scheduling a vote to rescind the hikes at the meeting next month. Combined with a fare hike in 2007, bus and rail riders will pay about 40 percent more now than they did a few years ago, they said.