Metro

Panel pushing 21% fare hikes

And you thought subway fares were already too expensive.

The MTA should hike fares by 21 percent over the next four years to pay for maintenance projects and plug projected deficits, according to an analysis.

The hikes should be accompanied by significantly higher tolls on MTA bridges and tunnels, the Citizens Budget Commission concluded.

The MTA has already announced plans to raise fares next year and in 2015. But those hikes are likely to be more modest than what commission recommends — about 7.5 percent in each of those years.

The 2013 hikes could bring the cost of a monthly MetroCard to anywhere from $109 to $125, sources said.

MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota thanked the commission for taking a “serious” look at the finances.

The commission also recommended congestion pricing to fund mass transit.

MTA board member Allen Cappelli said he would not support any plan that raise tolls.

“It adds a tremendous cost to small business in the city,” he said. “It becomes a tax increase on a small group of people.”

Cappelli said adding higher tolls to support mass transit is unfair to many motorists who drive because they have no other option.