Senator: Commuters should fight fare hike

With a proposed rate increase for Long Island Rail Road riders looming, state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. announced a petition drive last week to fight it.

News of the fare hike came on July 28, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority released its preliminary budget for 2011. The plan calls for an average ticket price to increase by 7.6 to 9.4 percent, depending on the distance of the trip. The average revenue gain from the fare increases would be 7.5 percent.

The validity period of tickets would also be shortened. A one-way ticket would be valid for six days, down from six months, and a 10-trip ticket would be valid for 90 days, down from one year.

"As a result of its cost-cutting actions, the MTA was able to limit the fare revenue increase to 7.5 percent in 2011, as agreed to with the governor and Legislature ... as part of the MTA rescue package," the MTA said in a release.

In addition to raising fares, the MTA plans to cut costs to reduce its 2010 deficit. Its plan calls for the elimination of 3,400 administrative and operational positions as well as pay freezes. The agency forecasts that the cuts will translate to savings of more than $500 million in 2011, rising to $700 million by 2014.

The MTA board will submit its final plan in December, but Fuschillo said he wants to make sure his constituents' voices are heard before the final plans go through. His goal is to collect at least 5,000 signatures opposing the fare hike to present to the MTA Board of Directors at a Sept. 16 hearing.

"They need to hear from the people who will be affected by their actions," Fuschillo, a Republican from Merrick, said of the MTA. "Commuters have already shown how upset and tired they are about being asked to once again pay more to bail the MTA out of its fiscal problems."

Fuschillo is encouraging residents who are opposed to the fare hike to sign his online petition on his website, fuschillo.nysenate.gov. He and state Assemblyman Dave McDonough, a Republican from North Merrick, have recently stopped off at local train stations to inform commuters of the proposed MTA plan and to encourage them to stand against the rate increase. They have already visited Freeport, Merrick, Bellmore and Wantagh and plan to visit Seaford, Massapequa and Massapequa Park. The petition currently has just over 2,500 signatures.

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