New Fare Discounts for Transit Riders in New York City
This report, which takes a new look at the current subway and bus fare in New York City, is
the first in-depth public report on fare issues since adoption of fare
discounts and unlimited ride passes from 1997 to 1999.
It recommends five improvements to how subway and bus riders can pay their fares:
- A 5-day "flexible" unlimited ride pass for $16 that can be used on nonconsecutive days.
- Replacement of lost or stolen 30-day unlimited ride MetroCards.
- A bi-weekly unlimited ride pass good for 14 days for $31.50.
- Reducing the $1.50 base fare to $1.40 by eliminating the 10% bonus on MetroCard purchases of $15 or more.
- Expansion of the "TransitChek" program.
These improvements to the current fare structure would increase transit ridership,
increase use of unlimited ride passes, improve the convenience and ease of
use of the subway and bus system, and
make fare discounts more accessible to low-income riders.
The analysis also estimates that this package of improvements can be implemented without reducing fare revenues for the transit system.
The report was commissioned by the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives, with funding from the J.M.Kaplan Fund.
 Executive Summary (html file)
Full Report (282k file in Acrobat PDF format)
Report published November 18, 2002
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