As New York City gears up for the introduction of congestion pricing this summer, certain commuters using the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North could benefit from fare reductions.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is poised to sanction a 10% discount on monthly tickets for fare zones within the city’s five boroughs.
MTA Chair Janno Lieber, in a Monday, April 29th, interview, said, “We’re discounting the monthly tickets for folks who ride from, you know, Woodlawn or Morris Park or, you know, other neighborhoods in the Bronx, Jamaica, Bayside, Douglaston. So that people can use the commuter rail system and save time.”
The discount specifically targets riders commuting between stations within the city limits.
This fare reduction is part of a year-long pilot program designed to assess the potential to offset commuter rail costs.
MTA Deputy Chief Financial Officer Jai Patel expressed optimism about the program: “The implementation of congestion pricing presents an opportunity to attract customers to transit with additional options for travel within the Congestion Relief Zone that are affordable, fast, and convenient.”
The fare pilot promotion is scheduled to begin on July 1st, the day after congestion pricing takes effect.
Under the promotion, a monthly LIRR ticket from Jamaica to either Penn Station or Grand Central would decrease from $220 to $198.
Similarly, a Metro-North monthly ticket between Grand Central Terminal and the northern Bronx would drop from $199.75 to $180.
The funding for these discounts will come from New York State’s Outer Borough Transportation Account, a transit fund established in 2019 alongside the enactment of congestion pricing legislation.
Despite these incentives, some drivers in the Bronx are skeptical about switching to public transportation.
“Not everyone wants to take public transportation. The streets are so bad and the Metro-North is OK. It’s not that dangerous. But MTA is really dangerous. The bus is really dangerous. Who wants to do that? I mean, you want to drive your car. I don’t think it’s fair,” Erika Salavarria told CBS News.
In terms of the congestion pricing itself, the MTA plans to start charging most drivers $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street from June 30.
The zone, now known as the “Congestion Relief Zone,” includes major crossings and tunnels. The program will use more than 100 cameras to monitor drivers’ E-ZPass and license plates as they enter the zone, with new tolls costing about 50% more for those without E-ZPass.
While some exemptions to congestion pricing will be available, there has been considerable opposition, including several lawsuits aimed at stopping the plan.
Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, expressed concerns about the impact on taxi drivers.
“With this third tax on taxi fares, we know ridership is going to come down, so it feels like it’s going to be a pretty devastating summer,” she told CBS New York.
Desai stressed the need for a concerted effort to mitigate what could become a significant crisis for the city’s taxi drivers.
