New York's MTA has postponed its planned fare hike set for August, as it requires a public hearing process that hasn't started yet. MTA Chair Janno Lieber indicated that while this delay provides temporary relief, a fare increase of approximately 4% will likely occur later in the year. This increase aligns with the agency's budgetary practices, depriving them of expected revenue without public input. Congestion pricing is currently helping alleviate financial pressures, and significant funding plans for infrastructure upgrades are underway, supported by the MTA's $68.4 billion capital plan for 2025-2029.
"Because of the nature of the public process... it cannot and won't be in August," Lieber said on Wednesday. "But... it will happen, in all probability, sometime later in the year."
The fare hike is part of the MTA's standard budget playbook, baked in as a 4% increase every two years since 2010 (except for 2021, when the pandemic temporarily paused the plan).
While the exact new fare hasn't been revealed, the MTA says it will initiate the hearing process later in 2025, likely bumping up base fares sometime after that.
In the meantime, revenue from congestion pricing is helping cover some of the transit system's hefty bills.
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