Transit Authority Celebrates Bold Approach: Raise Prices While Service Deteriorates
Metropolitan Transit Authority Announces Fare Increase While Simultaneously Reducing Service Quality
NEW YORK The MTA announced this week that it would be increasing fares approximately 5% while simultaneously reducing service on numerous linesa strategy that one observer described as “bold in its commitment to making everything worse.”
The fare increase, set to take effect shortly, will raise subway costs to $2.90 per ride, while bus and commuter rail fares increase proportionally.
Meanwhile, the authority announced service reductions on the A, C, E, and G linesreductions that will extend wait times during rush hours while the fare customers pay increases.
The Economic Logic That Isn’t
The MTA’s financial model appears to operate on the principle that raising fares on a service that’s already failing will somehow generate revenue that magically improves service.
In reality, raising fares on deteriorating service typically drives riders toward alternative transportation (cars, gig ride services, bicycles), which increases traffic congestion and carbon emissions while decreasing the ridership revenue that’s supposed to fund improvements.
One economist noted: “The MTA’s business model is: service gets worse, customers leave, revenue decreases, they raise fares to compensate, more customers leave. It’s a death spiral.”
The fundamental problemthat the MTA is perpetually underfundedis addressed through fare increases rather than actual budget solutions, suggesting that political will to properly fund transit simply doesn’t exist.
Commuters, resigned to the situation, simply accepted the news with the fatalism usually reserved for people receiving genuinely bad news about their health.
References to MTA official announcements and NYC transit news coverage confirm that the pattern of raising fares while reducing service is now institutionalized.
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SOURCE: MTA Financial Reports