John M. Kennedy, Candidate for Suffolk County Executive, said the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) needs to find a better way to straighten out its finances other than raising rates on Long Island commuters. He says rate hikes have been the easy solution for the MTA for far too long and are emptying Long Islanders’ pockets.
The MTA board recently voted to raise prices on monthly and weekly tickets for the Long Island Rail Road, but capped the increase at 3.85%. That means the price of a monthly ticket will go up by a maximum of $15 and a weekly ticket will cost, at the most, $5.75 more. LIRR riders who own monthly MetroCards will pay $6 more, totaling $127 a month. Another fare hike is scheduled for 2021.
“Long Island commuters are getting robbed because of the MTA’s wasteful spending and sloppy bookkeeping,” Mr. Kennedy said. “Instead of dumping the additional costs on the backs of hardworking Long Islanders, they should look from within and cut some of the fat from the budget; maybe then, they won’t have to worry about billion-dollar deficits.”
