Bronx residents are about to be shafted again by being asked to pay more for inferior service.

The MTA board has approved fare and toll increases which will begin on March 31st with bridges and tunnels and on April 21st with buses and subways.

Although the base fare would remain $2.75 for subways and buses, the MTA is viciously eliminating the MetroCard Bonus that many riders rely upon.

That means that if you add $5.50 or more to your card, you will no longer get the 5% bonus that gives many commuters a free ride here and there. These bonuses add up but by taking them away they are indeed raising the fares.

Weekly unlimited MetroCards are going up $1 dollar to $33, and monthly by $6 bucks to $127.

Express bus commuters will also have to shell out more.

Fares on express buses are going up a quarter to $6.75 per ride and the 7 day plus express bus pass will go up to $62 from $59.50.

Metro-North commuters will see an increase of about 4% from all Bronx stations into Grand Central will now cost you $9.75 for a one way peak ticket versus the current $9.25. Monthly commuter tickets will go up $8 bucks to $216 a month. (You can see the full fare increase schedule here for Metro-North).

Crossing over the Triboro (ugh, we really hate calling it the RFK), Whitestone and Throggs Neck Bridge (we also refuse to call it “Throgs Neck”) will cost E-Z pass riders $6.12 up from $5.76 and an even bigger jump if you’re a pay-by-mail rider which will cost you a dollar extra at $9.50 starting March 31st.

Over at the Henry Hudson in Riverdale, you’ll be charged $2.80 (up from $2.64) for E-Z pass and pay-by-mail commuters will pay an extra $1 as it rises to $7.00.

So what are we getting out of all these hikes? Wages are stagnant but we’re asked to pay more for crumbling infrastructure that doesn’t really get us going where we need to.

I personally gave up the subway last year and now almost exclusively just ride a bike everywhere in The Bronx and NYC and actually get to places much faster not to mention a lot cheaper.

Before the MTA asks us to pay more they need to actually OFFER more. We need reliable and frequent service.

It’s an embarrassment that America’s largest city and the city that never sleeps has such deplorable transit service.

Get your act together, MTA.

Head over to the MTA website for full information on all fare increases so you can see how it will impact you.

Each week almost 100 inbound Metro North trains from Connecticut on the New Haven line stop at Fordham but only to discharge commuters.

Passengers are forbidden to board trains at Fordham that originate in Connecticut heading into Manhattan.

But after over a century of ridiculousness and literal segregation, all will change on Sunday, April 14th of this year as Metro North ends this exclusionary practice.

Now Bronx residents will be able to board an extra 94 trains to Manhattan at Fordham during the week with an extra 67 on Saturdays and 65 on Sundays.

But this is a small victory because before we can celebrate we need to continue to push for lowering fares for Bronx residents heading downtown so that they match that of the subway system.

Without lowering the fare for trips within the city, the rail system will continue to be exclusionary.

Metro reports:

“For more than a century, New Haven line trains have utterly neglected Bronx and Harlem residents — allowing riders from Connecticut and Westchester suburbs to disembark in the city, but refusing service to local New Yorkers,” Stringer said in a statement following the Metro-North news.
Stringer commended the MTA, Metro-North and Connecticut DOT for the change, saying that it marks “an important first step towards addressing and reversing these discriminatory practices,” but he’s still demanding more in terms of transit equity for Bronx residents.
“The Harlem-125th, Melrose, Tremont, Botanical Garden, Williams Bridge, and Woodlawn stations continue to be bypassed by New Haven line trains—leaving Bronx and Manhattan residents with inadequate service,” he said. “For real transit equity, we need to lower in-city Metro-North and LIRR fares to the $2.75 price of a MetroCard swipe and establish free subway and bus transfers so that New Yorkers aren’t effectively locked out of the 41 commuter rail stations within the five boroughs.”

Read the full story at Metro US.

Bronx residents along the B and D line beware: Starting tonight there will be no service between Norwood/205th Street and 161st Street/Yankee Stadium from 9:30PM to 5AM as part of the MTA’s FASTTRACK program.

As an alternative, the MTA is running free shuttle bus service along the route as well as service between Mosholu on the 4 line and the Norwood/205th Street station on the D line.

This will continue each weeknight this week through Friday, the 22nd and then again for the two weeks until Friday March 8th so for our late night commuters, we feel your pain but hopefully this will bring better service for the line.

But we’re not gonna hold our breath.

Thanks to 6sqft for the reminder!