A fairer fare could be on the way.
Bailing out the MTA — which Albany lawmakers yesterday called their “next task” and one that could be completed this week — could drastically reduce the fare hikes approved last week, slashing a single ride from $2.50 to $2.25 and a 30-day unlimited MetroCard from $103 to $88, according to an analysis recently released by the agency.
“That’s our next task,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “The [MTA’s] actions are [so] outrageous that we want to overturn [them]. I would hope to do it as quickly as possible.”
He and Gov. Paterson late last week pitched a plan that would give the MTA $200 million to $300 million a year in yet-to-be-determined automobile taxes and fees and $1 billion courtesy of a 33-cent tax on every $100 of a business’ payroll. The 23 percent fare hike OK’d by the MTA as it faces a $1.2 billion budget gap would fall to 8 percent.
A seven-day unlimited card would go for $27 instead of $31, and a 14-day pass for $49, not $59, said the agency.
Tolls on most crossings, including the Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels, would see 50-cent increases rather than $1.50 hikes.
The automobile-tax plan, meanwhile, has won over at least one of the six Senate Democrats who held out on a plan that would’ve tolled 13 now-free East and Harlem river bridges.
“That could work fine with me,” Sen. Pedro Espada said.
And might his fellow holdouts agree?
“I think it can happen,” he said.