Metro-North To Offer Fare Discounts In Springtime Pilot Program

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — MTA officials will test new fares for Metro-North Railroad to increase ridership and reduce costs and uncertainty for public transportation customers, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Wednesday.

The pilot program includes a series of temporary promotional changes to fare structures for New York City Transit and the Long Island Rail Road as well. The pilot will begin March 1 and last for at least four months.

“Our fare structure is an important tool we have to win back riders,” said Janno Lieber, MTA Acting Chair and CEO. “Business logic says it doesn’t make sense to increase the price just as you’re trying to rebuild your customer base. So, we’re leaving the basic fare alone for now and rolling out a slate of new pilot fare promotions.”

For Metro-North and the LIRR, customers who buy tickets with the MTA eTix app, can take advantage of promotional fares, especially for trips within New York City. The pilot will also provide ticketing options officials say will be more closely aligned with the evolving needs of workers with flexible schedules.

The MTA will offer three major changes to railroads fares:

• A new 20-trip ticket, which will offer 20 percent off the comparable 20 peak one-way fares.
• Monthly tickets, which are currently discounted between 48 percent and 61 percent of the price of a comparable number of one-way peak tickets, will be discounted by an additional 10 percent.
• ‘City Ticket’ – which offers a reduced, flat fare for travel within New York City on weekends – will be extended to all weekday off-peak trains at a fare of $5. This is a $2.25 or 31 percent discount from Metro-North’s current weekday fare between the Bronx and Manhattan, which is $7.25. It will be a 35 percent discount from the LIRR’s current weekday fare between eastern Queens and Manhattan or Brooklyn, which is $7.75.

(City Ticket must be purchased and activated before boarding the train. Metro-North’s off-peak fare between the Bronx and Manhattan will remain $13 when purchased on board.)

The MTA also announced it would keep all LIRR and Metro-North fares off-peak through Feb. 28.

Under the pilot, the MTA would offer subway and local bus customers, along with those of the Staten Island Railway, the best possible fare for all trips. Under this pilot, customers who tap and go with OMNY would be charged the standard $2.75 pay-per-ride fare for their first 12 trips starting every Monday. Any further trips through the following Sunday would be free of charge. As a result, no OMNY customer would pay more than $33.00 per week, which is the current price of a seven-day unlimited-ride MetroCard, and customers would receive the benefit of a seven-day unlimited-ride card without paying upfront.

The MTA is retaining free transfers between subways and buses for all customers. Two-part trips that are linked by a free transfer between a subway and bus are considered a single trip toward the 12 needed to reach the fare-free threshold each week.

The MTA will evaluate the new fares’ impact on operations, the customer experience and farebox revenue. If the pilot proves successful, the new fare structures could become permanent, be discontinued, or be adjusted.