MTA Announces Public Hearing Schedule

The MTA has announced it will hold a series of public hearings November 8-10 to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on a series of proposed fare and toll changes and service modifications.

Five hearings will be held to enable customers and others across the MTA service area to attend: in Staten Island, uptown Manhattan, Brooklyn (near the Queens border), Suffolk (near the Nassau border), and Westchester (see below for dates, times, and locatons).

The MTA proposals include:

On MTA New York City Transit, MTA Long Island Bus, and certain private bus lines, increase the cost of the 1-Day Fun Pass to up to $8, of the 7-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard to up to $24, and of the 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard to between $76 and $84. (There would be no change to the base fare of $2.00 or to Pay-Per-Ride MetroCard discounts.)
Increase the fare for express bus service to $6 and increase the cost of the 7-Day Express Bus Plus MetroCard to up to $50.
Close 164 part-time and full-time station booths (all stations will continue to have at least one station booth open at all times).
Terminate G train service from Brooklyn at Court Square at all times.
Impose fare collection on MTA Staten Island Railway at the Tompkinsville station.
Increase fares on MTA Long Island Rail Road and MTA Metro-North Railroad in order to achieve total fare revenue increases of 5 percent to as much as 8 percent.
Increase crossing charges at MTA Bridges and Tunnels by up to 50 cents in each direction for passenger vehicles (and by up to $1.00 where tolls are collected in one direction only), with changes to toll rates for other vehicles.
Establish a $1 monthly E-ZPass account fee.

The MTA proposed the fare hikes to help it close a budget gap projected at $436 million in fiscal year 2005. Agency gap closing programs are expected to save $248 million, while increased fare revenue will add an additional $219 million, which will leave the MTA with a small surplus of $31 million in 2005 to carry over into 2006.

Notices announcing the hearings have appeared in major New York area newspapers; are available on the MTA website, www.mta.info; and will be posted at subway and railroad stations and on buses and distributed to commuter rail riders.

Registration to speak at each hearing will be open until 8 p.m. on the date of each hearing, and all registrants will be given an opportunity to speak, with oral testimony limited to three minutes per speaker. To register in advance of the hearings, please contact Douglas Sussman, director, MTA community affairs, at 212-878-7483.

For those who cannot attend the hearings, the MTA is accepting written comments through its website, www.mta.info, and by mail at MTA Community Affairs, 347 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017. All written testimony will be made part of the hearing record.

Monday, November 8, 2004, 4 p.m.
The Michael J. Petrides School
715 Ocean Terrace
Building "C"
Staten Island
Directions: S53, S61, S62, or S66 buses to Victory Blvd. & Clove Rd. for free shuttle bus to the Petrides Complex

Tuesday, November 9, 2004, 4 p.m.
El Museo del Barrio
Teatro Heckscher
1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Manhattan
Directions: to 103rd Street; M1, M2, M3 or M4 bus

Tuesday, November 9, 2004, 4 p.m.
The Hilton Long Island/Huntington Hotel
598 Broadhollow Road
Melville (on Nassau/Suffolk border)
Directions: LIRR to Farmingdale Station, free Long Island Bus transfer to the hotel

Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 4 p.m.
Franklin K. Lane High School
999 Jamaica Avenue
Brooklyn (on Queens border)
Directions: to 75th Street Station, Q56 Bus

Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 4 p.m.
The Westchester County Center
The Little Theatre
198 Central Avenue, White Plains
Directions: Metro-North to White Plains Station, then any of these Bee-Line buses: 1W, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 20, or 40