Saturday, October 3, 2026
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board faced strong opposition at its headquarters in Brooklyn from Aug. 19-20, when commuters packed public hearings to challenge the agency’s plan to raise ticket and toll prices starting in January 2026.
The proposal, released July 30, would mark the MTA’s first round of increases since 2023, when both fares and tolls climbed by more than 4 percent. Officials say the changes are necessary to maintain service levels and support a transit system still recovering from the financial strain of the pandemic.
One of the more notable changes would be on the Long Island Rail Road, where the MTA is proposing an average 4.4 percent fare hike on one-way peak, monthly, and weekly tickets. Off-peak city tickets would increase by 25 cents, to $5.25, and peak city trips would rise to $7.25. Monthly tickets would be capped at $500.
This increase would also affect commuters traveling from Valley Stream, where many residents rely on the LIRR not only for daily access to Manhattan but also for service to other Long Island destinations along the network.
“Valley Stream commuters already endure disgraceful conditions at the Valley Stream LIRR station,” Valley Stream Mayor Edwin Fare commented. “For years we have been calling on the LIRR and MTA leadership to improve its crumbling infrastructure here in our own backyard. To ask these same commuters to pay even more money for their commute is really another slap in the face, and presents further hardships to those who have no choice but to ride the rails.”
In addition to the price hikes, the MTA plans to overhaul its ticketing system. All one-way mobile tickets would automatically activate upon purchase and expire within four hours. Paper tickets would follow the same rule. Currently, those tickets remain valid for up to 60 days, with 10-trip passes lasting six months. The new framework eliminates the round-trip ticket in favor of a “Day Pass,” which would allow unlimited travel until 4 a.m. the following morning. If approved, the fare changes would represent the LIRR’s first increase since August 2023, when prices rose by 4.5 percent.
Drivers would also see higher costs. The MTA’s plan calls for a 7.5 percent toll increase on its nine bridges and tunnels for E-ZPass users. That would raise the standard crossing fee from $6.94 to $7.46 on major spans such as the RFK, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazzano-Narrows bridges, as well as the Queens-Midtown and Hugh L. Carey tunnels. The Cross Bay and Marine Parkway bridges, which carry discounted tolls, would rise from $2.60 to $2.80. The last toll increase came in 2023.
Hundreds of riders and drivers attended the forums to register their opposition, voicing frustration over higher costs at a time of rising rents, food bills, and other living expenses. But the MTA defended the plan as a necessary step to sustain reliable service.
“We strive to make fare and toll increases small and predictable,” said MTA Chief of Commercial Ventures Jessie Lazarus while re-introducing the plan during the first night of the hearings. “In fact, 15 years ago, the MTA adopted a pattern of small and predictable fare and toll increases every two years. And we’ve acted in compliance with this policy ever since, which has protected us all from those double-digit percentage increases we experienced in the 1980s and helped the MTA keep service levels steady.”
Lazarus stressed that while no one welcomes higher prices, the agency must balance affordability with operational costs. They pointed to investments in expanded service and affordability programs such as reduced fares for students and low-income riders.
“Let’s ground ourselves in the fact that residents in the New York region have the lowest transportation costs in the country,” she said. “As the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers understand because they take public transit every day, the MTA is what keeps New York affordable. And fares and tolls are what keeps the MTA running and running frequent service.”
The proposal is subject to final approval by the MTA board this fall.
