NYC can’t afford a $3 transit fare

The fare ain’t fair!

New York, May 28 — A loud and militant rally was held this morning in front of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s headquarters in lower Manhattan to denounce the agency’s planned fare increase to $3. That’s 60 times what it cost to ride the bus or subway in 1948.

The action was called by the Fare Ain’t Fair Campaign initiated by the December 12th Movement. Volunteers have been leafleting and petitioning against the fare hike that the MTA is demanding to be implemented on Aug. 1.

Speakers at the rally were from the December 12th Movement; the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; the Party for Socialism and Liberation; and Struggle-La Lucha newspaper. 

They pointed out that the fare increase is another attack on poor people. It goes hand-in-hand with Trump’s budget, which wants to cut 14 million people from Medicaid.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are flooding the subways and buses with armed police. Last September, after someone allegedly jumped the turnstile at the Sutter Avenue L train station in Brooklyn, trigger-happy cops shot four people.

Without a subway, bus and commuter train system, all of Manhattan’s skyscrapers would be worthless. To Wall Street, however, the MTA’s most important function is to give $2.8 billion in tax-free interest to bondholders.

The Elevator Action Group held an adjacent rally, focusing on the lack of accessibility on the subways. Less than a third of the stations have elevators.

Malaysia Goodson was killed on Jan. 28, 2019, because there wasn’t an elevator at the Seventh Avenue B/D/E subway station in Manhattan. The 22-year-old Black mother died falling down the stairs while protecting her year-old daughter.

Trump’s proposed trillion-dollar Pentagon budget could easily pay for free, accessible transit everywhere in the United States, as well as housing the homeless.

The fare ain’t fair! We can’t afford a $3 transit fare!