City Council Members Carlos Menchaca (Sunset Park, Red Hook) and Rafael E. Espinal (Bushwick, East New York) yesterday called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to allocate $220 million in his upcoming Fiscal Year 2018 Executive Budget to pay for half-price MetroCards to New Yorkers between the ages of 18 and 64 living in households with incomes at or below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
The two lawmakers were among the featured speakers at a rally yesterday on the steps of City Hall, in which the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) and the Riders Alliance released a letter they sent to de Blasio asking for inclusion of the funds. Numerous low-income and transit advocacy groups signed the letter as did more than 30 lawmakers.
Among the other Brooklyn lawmakers signing onto the letter included Council Members Inez Barron, Laurie Cumbo, Vincent Gentile, Brad Lander, Stephen, Antonio Reynoso and Jumaane D. Williams.
“If the Mayor truly cares about the fight to make sure everyone has an equal playing field in this city, he will take this effort very seriously, said Espinal. “ [ He will] make sure we have funding in the budget so that people can have that MetroCard to get to work, get to school and do what they have to do for their families.”
This proposal would extend to an estimated 800,000 riders from low-income households and would save an average of up to $700 per year for those who opt to participate in the program. The cost to the city would be an estimated $220 million dollars, which would make up for the loss to the MTA.
Currently, disabled individuals and seniors 64 and up het half-price MetroCards. Additionally, studies have repeatedly shown that low-income city residents tend to be unable to purchase weekly and monthly MetroCards, which offer discounts because they can’t afford to lay out the money upfront for these cards.
“This city has a responsibility to respond directly to the families that keep this city alive and running.” said Menchaca, highlighting the challenges facing immigrant communities in his district due to lack of access to transportation, “When they come into my office and the district office, they talk about the things they need and this is one of them.”
According to recent CSS survey, one in four New Yorkers say that they often can not afford bus and subway fares. A third say that they did not take a job or look for a job further from home because the cost of a MetroCard.
One Riders Alliance member and Brooklyn resident at the rally, Danna Dennis, who had a difficult time getting to the event, reiterated the importance of the half-price MetroCards for struggling New Yorkers. “ I can’t even tell you the last time I bought a monthly card. Even coming here today, I put four dollars on my MetroCard and I probably still have a dollar twenty-five left on there, and I’m going to have to put a little bit more just to get back home.”
In the coming years, the price of MetroCards is expected to rise every two years. According to the MTA four-year financial plan released in July of this year, the price hikes will be on a biennial basis and will be no more than a 4% increase through 2019. The plan is to offset deficits and rising healthcare and pension cost of MTA employees.
The first price increase is expected in March of 2017, which will raise a single fare from $2.75 to $3 a fare.
