Access-A-Ride users may have to pay more
New Yorkers with disabilities who depend on public transportation to get around the city may have to pay more to travel under a proposed MTA fare hike.
Currently, Access-A-Ride customers pay the same amount — $2.75 per ride — to board specially-equipped mini buses with ramps and lifts or sedans, as non-disabled straphangers.
With the proposed fare hike, disabled riders could face a 25-cent increase that “would negatively and disproportionately harm people with disabilities who use New York City’s Access-A-Ride system,” according to a letter obtained by The New York Daily News from 11 directors of advocacy organizations sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.
A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday with the MTA on the proposed hike.
MTA officials are weighing two ideas for subway and bus riders, according to a Nov. 15 press release. One option would keep the base fare the same but get rid of the bonus riders. Seven-day unlimited passes would go up by $1 to $33, while 30-day passes would go up by $6 to $127.
The other plan would raise the base fare up to $3 and boost the bonus to 10% and increase the price of seven-day passes to $33 and the price of 30-day passes to $126.25.
For express bus service, the base fare would either increase to $7.00 and with the bonus fare eliminated, or would increase to $7.25 while the bonus fare rose 10 percent.