NEW YORK — Some New York City residents will receive discounts on Long Island Rail Road tickets as part of the deal to bring congestion pricing tolls to New York.
The New York Post reports that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will offer 20% discounts on monthly passes to residents of northeast Queens. The discounts, which will reduce the pass cost from $226 to $181, will be available to commuters boarding at seven LIRR stations: Auburndale, Bayside, Broadway, Douglaston, Flushing-Main Street, Little Neck, and Murray Hill, according to state Assembly members Edward Braunstein and Nily Rozic, who announced the plan Wednesday. A date for the start of the discount has not yet been set.
“We don’t have access to subway service in the 26th assembly district, so wanted to find a way to make it easier to take commuter rail,” Braunstein said. “With congestion pricing coming, we wanted to encourage people to get out of their cars and take trains.”
Under agreements reached during finalization of the state’s budget, the MTA also agreed to spend $3 million to improving express bus service to the area. That budget approved the congestion-pricing plan, which will raise funds for MTA capital improvements. [See “State budget will boost New York City transit funding through congestion pricing, other taxes,” Trains News Wire, April 1, 2019.]
It will be interesting to watch how many “carve outs” and exemptions make it through the process.