BUS RIDERS THREATEN STRIKE TO FIGHT MTA FARE INCREASE.Byline: Douglas Haberman Staff Writer A proposed 10-cent fare increase by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has prompted a threat of a fare strike A fare strike is a direct action in which people in a city with a public transit system carry out mass fare evasion. Jumping turnstiles, boarding buses through the back or very quickly through the front, and leaving doors open in subway stations are all tactics by which people can next week by the Bus Riders Union. The group claims the hike to $1.45 would be illegal and is calling for a general fare strike between July 12 and July 16 as part of a campaign to reduce the standard fare to 50 cents and the $42 monthly pass to $20, organizer Rita Burgos said. ``We think the fares are already too high,'' she said. A public hearing on the proposed hike is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday in the board room at the MTA (1) (Message Transfer Agent or Mail Transfer Agent) The store and forward part of a messaging system. See messaging system. (2) See M Technology Association. 1. (messaging) MTA - Message Transfer Agent. headquarters, One Gateway Plaza, next to Union Station. The MTA and the union are locked in a bitter legal battle over the agency's compliance with a 1996 court-sanctioned agreement that requires the MTA to improve bus service and reduce bus crowding. The MTA cannot raise fares while that dispute continues, Burgos said. The increase was recommended by Julian Burke The name Burke (from Irish Gaelic de Burca, of Norman origin). In English the meaning of the name Burke is "fortified hill." See also Berkley. Places Australia
The transit agency's budget for this year assumes the fare hike will be adopted by the MTA board later this summer and take effect Nov. 1. If it doesn't, the agency would have to find a way to make up for the $10.2 million shortfall. ``We're adding $77 million in service but we're only seeking $10.2 million of that from our customers,'' MTA spokesman Marc Littman said. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the MTA, the increase is justified by improvements in bus service. However, Littman said the court agreement allows a fare increase to keep pace with general price hikes in the economy. Under the proposed hike, the standard fare would go up from $1.35 to $1.45, discount tokens would rise by a nickel nickel, metallic chemical element; symbol Ni; at. no. 28; at. wt. 58.69; m.p. about 1,453°C;; b.p. about 2,732°C;; sp. gr. 8.902 at 25°C;; valence 0, +1, +2, +3, or +4. from 90 cents to 95 cents, with some increases in discount passes. A monthly pass, for example, would increase from $42 to $45, while a monthly pass for senior citizens would go up from $12 to $13. That higher figure would still be lower than fares in many other major cities, including New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. , according to the MTA. It would be only the second MTA fare increase in 11 years. |
|
||||||||||||||

Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion