NEW YORK — The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board on Tuesday approved new discounts on monthly commuter rail passes within New York City, as well as increased frequencies on six express bus routes.
The fare discounts and changes to bus service will coincide with the planned June launch of Manhattan’s congestion pricing toll program [see “New York MTA announces plans to begin congestion pricing …,” Trains News Wire, April 29, 2024].
The 10% reduction on the in-city Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North monthly passes, as well as the additional service bus service from Brooklyn and Staten Island to the Congestion Relief Zone, are part of an effort to make it easier for residents of New York’s outer boroughs to switch from driving to public transit to reach Manhattan’s Central Business District. They will be funded by the Outer Borough Transportation Account, created by the New York legislature in 2018 to provide $50 million per year to improve public transit in association with congestion pricing.
These are the kinds of investments outer borough commuters want to see,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said in a press release, “and the State Legislature understands that – as proven by this year’s budget.”
The LIRR has 24 stations in Brooklyn and Queens that will be covered by the program, while Metro-North has 13 in the Bronx, as well as the 125th Street station in Harlem.
