Big Apple residents vented about the MTA’s latest planned fare hike during a public hearing Tuesday evening — blasting the “greedy” transit agency while complaining about the state of the subway system.
“Your entire plan is bulls–t,” straphanger Emmanuel Vasquez fumed to MTA officials at the Brooklyn New York City Transit Authority Office.
“An increase to three dollars … are you delusional?” the John Jay College student railed at the hearing that attracted roughly 100 New Yorkers.
The cash-strapped MTA is set to squeeze commuters even more by Jan. 4, 2026, raising the city’s subway and bus fare to $3 — a 10-cent increase to the current fare after the agency last jacked up the price in the middle of 2023.
“There’s always flooding, there’s always a brake emergency, there’s always a power outage. And you’re expecting me to pay more for this crap? …You cannot see the reality that is going on in this subway,” Vasquez raged as moderators told him to silence the cursing.
Other commuters argued the latest planned fare hike proves inconsistent with the current conditions underground — including fare evaders, unreliable travel times and flooding.
“People are still jumping over the turnstiles. It’s like a circus. So the millions of dollars that have been installed in the train stations, it doesn’t seem like it’s working … I’m just tired of being tired,” said Lynette Rushmore.
“I’m just not seeing anything that’s been elevated in our transit system to date in 2025. I don’t see anything that’s a benefit to the commuter. I’m frustrated because of all of the inconsistencies.” Rushmore said.
Fare evasion across the Big Apple’s subway system decreased modestly to 9.8% through the first quarter of this year compared to the 13.6% of turnstile jumpers during the same span in 2024.
The slight decrease comes despite the MTA installing new spikes and flaps at subway entrances in hopes of forcing straphangers to pay the $2.90 fee.
Some straphangers at Tuesday night’s hearing even argued they understood why turnstile hoppers choose to evade the fare.
“I’ve never seen an agency more inefficient, more incompetent, more greedy than the MTA.” said lifelong New Yorker Serenjo Persaud.
“Every day, people hop the gate. If I want to go to my job or any occasion on time, there is always a delay in service every single day,” Persaud said.
“And I hate to admit it, but we do hop. There’s a reason we do it. And there’s a mass greed in the MTA … A power outage, a malfunction over here. Enough is enough. I’ve never seen more greed, greed, greed than in the MTA,” he said.
Kristian Joseph, 28, was one of multiple members from “The Fare Ain’t Fare Group,” organized by the Brooklyn-based Pan-African human rights organization dubbed the “December 12th Movement,” who were present at the meeting.
Joseph claimed his group has collected roughly 2,000 signatures opposed to the recent hike on an online petition.
“It’s a smack in the face of the working class, because the MTA is very aware, and everyone is very aware, that the cost of living is continuing to rise and rise and rise in every facet of all the necessities that we purchase in order to live,” Joseph told The Post.
“And so the fare hike, it just piles on in terms of the increasing burdens on the working people of this city,” the fed-up commuter said.
Some MTA leaders trivialized the fare hike when it was revealed last month at an MTA board meeting.
“I would not call this a hike,” board member Neal Zuckerman had said. “I think we’re raising it 4.4% for the first time in two and a half years and that’s pretty generous.
“This is a very gradual raise and I think very respectful of the inflation and affordability issues,” Zuckerman argued.
Drivers, who already are dealing with congestion pricing fees, would also be walloped with toll increases for various bridges and tunnels around the tristate area.
Tolls would jump from $6.94 to $7.46 on the RFK, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazzano bridges along with the Queens-Midtown and Hugh Carey tunnels.
Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North riders will also face a 4.4% increase for one-way, weekly, and monthly tickets if the MTA board approves the new rates later this year.
Mayor Eric Adams called the current fare “already too high for many” and urged board members to reject the proposal when it goes to a vote in the fall.
“Proposing a fare hike without demonstrating meaningful improvements is offensive to hard-working New Yorkers, and that’s why I’m urging all board appointees to vote no on this proposal,” he said.
“We strongly oppose this fare increase and remain committed to fighting for a more affordable and equitable city.”
The proposed increase comes as the MTA is on track to notch $500 million from congestion pricing so far this year – though the agency continues to struggle to slow fare evasion that costs it about $700 million yearly.
Read the full article here
