MTA Toll and Fare Hikes to Go Into Effect by Labor Day—Area Bridges and Tunnels Affected

YS Gold 

When the MTA’s Board of Finance Committee met in May, a hike in tolls and ride fares was proposed. Transit fares have not been raised since 2019, as the MTA sought to encourage riders to return to mass transit following the Covid-19 pandemic.   

With riders returning to mass transit en masse (ridership is now at 80% of pre-pandemic levels), the MTA seeks to return to its regular schedule of increasing its fares. 

In this proposal, the agency seeks to raise their revenue from ride fares by 4% and the revenue from tolls by 5.5%. 

Following are the affected rides as per the proposal, which are expected to be implemented by Labor Day: 

Standard bus rides will go from $2.75 to $2.90. Hikes will also affect express bus rides, MetroCards, and other MTA rides. 

For automobiles using the MTA’s major crossings, the Bronx-Whitestone, Robert F. Kennedy, Throggs Neck, and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridges and Hugh L. Carey and Queens Midtown Tunnels, the new toll rates are as follows.

For E-Z users, the rate will go from $6.55 to $6.94. For Tolls-by-Mail users, the toll will go from $10.17 to $11.19. 

“The modest increase in fares and tolls is a continuation of an MTA practice that began in 2009 in which small, predictable adjustments are made to fares and tolls on a biennial basis,” said a statement by the MTA.