My May commuting pass arrived from Metro-North. The envelope included a flyer with all kinds of cheery talk about how to lower the actual cost because the government's stimulus package allows pre-tax withdrawal to be increased by about $75. Of course that's been true for several months - but the important minor detail they omit from their jollity (with apologies for the sarcasm) is that the MTA is hoping/planning to raise fares in June by
33%. That's not a typo. Thirty-three percent. That will bring it to over $500 for people in my area.
Interesting logic. On the one hand: hey, here's some good news - you can withhold more pre-tax to pay your commuting fare. On the other hand: you have to pay more now, in fact twice more than the more you can withhold. This kind of logic puts one in mind of that definition of "chutzpah" as what someone has who kills their parents and then begs mercy from the court because they're an orphan.
The math is interesting, too. Pre-tax put-asides are meant to say that you're saving 1/3 in actual dollars, so an additional $75 is equivalent to around $25. The proposed increase, however, is an additional $100. So the net is $75 dollar more per month, even assuming the pre-tax allowance isn't cut back. So it comes down to an additional $1200+ per year for the fare which is supposedly being offset by pre-tax savings of $300 more. Which is still a net additional cost of $900 at minimum. Nine hundred dollars!! Two years ago our fares were raised 9% and two years before that were raised 7% so in less than five years our fares have doubled.
A $100+ increase - and $500+ per month overall - is exhorbitant and outrageous. And it's not as if raises would match that increase - good raises are in the 5-8% range - but certainly not this year. This year, after all, this year many people are losing their jobs and few are getting raises at all, let alone 30%.
Why haven't State legislators worked this out, as they promised? Shouldn't they be massively encouraging people to take the train - green initiatives and all, if reasonableness fees isn't good sense enough. Couldn't they boldly
lower fares so more people would take the train? Do they want people to stop working in New York City and earning good salaries and bringing cash back to mid-state counties? How are Governor Patterson and Mayor Bloomberg allowing this to happen to their constituents?
And what happened to the promised criminal charges a couple of years ago when it turned out the MTA was hiding real account books and had a huge surplus? And what happened to the billions of surplus funds?
It's not as if we get more when they increase the rent, I mean fare. ($500 is what a college friend is paying for rent this coming year, by they way.) Two years after the last hike, we still have unbelievably smelly bathrooms, grimy windows and seats, and are almost always slightly late, among other things. There's even a disclaimer on the tickets about how they don't guaranteed a seat, only that you'll arrive eventually. We also have no choice because buses and cars (
i.e., driving into NYC) is prohibitively traffic-jammed, cost-wearing on cars and people, and the complete opposite of good for the environment.
We do get to see the Hudson River every day on my line, and that's wonderful, although no thanks to them, of course. Come to think of it, I wonder when they'll think of charging us a "view fee" since we pass a beautiful river instead of junkyards and manufacturing plants.
Labels: expenses, transportation
