Daily News du lieu suivant : New York, New York • 4

'1 By USA REIN I Straphanger savings options eyed muter's 40 trips a month. The agency needs to ance the new riders the.disV counts would bring with wrfa the price reductions would cost up to $250 millioTr' a Vf And there's a hitch. When and 1.2 million on the TA's buses. Lower off-peak fares could be instituted, with the proper amount deducted from the card when it is used. The Transit Authority has never sold tokens at a discount during off-peak hours, presumably because they could be used at other times.

The off-peak fare might be 80 of the peak fare, which would be charged only from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.jweekdays. The MTA has ruled out fares based on the distance traveled, because they would require riders to reinsert their cards when they left the system.

"Because of the sheer volume of riders, that's top complex for New York," Walder said. Two-fare-zone riders who take a bus and subway might only have to pay half the cost of the second ride. The fare card could be programed to record transfers. Monthly or -weekly passes would offer unlimited rides for a set fee, somewhat above the cost of the average com the discounts start in January, they will be available only to riders at the 15 of the system's stations that have automatic-fare-card equipment 67CS bisi at Beigdcrf Well-dressed thieves got past a security guard on Bergdorf Goodman's bustling main floor yesterday and swiped a $670,000 diamond necklace, police said. Amid a sea of sales people and lunch-hour shoppers, two or possibly three men in business suits snatched the antique platinum necklace laced with diamonds from a locked display case about 1 p.m.

One thief distracted the guard who had been posted expressly to watch the case, sandwiched between a cosmetics counter and a stand of ladies handbags while another swiftly got into it The lock didn't appear to be broken, and police said the thieves may have had a key. Other jewelry in the case was left untouched. Cops have only the sketchiest description of the thieves men in their 50s or 60s because no one saw them take the jewelry. "Simple as that" said a police source. "I'm sure they just alked out of the place." Liz Holland, a spokeswoman for the Fifth Ave.

store, refused to comment Alice McQuillan The cards will be usabie'iri every subway station by 1997 and in all Transit Authority buses by 1996. Daily News Staff Mmter Now that MetroCard is here, the discounts the subway fare cards, were created for are on the way. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say they will present a plan to the MTA board this spring that could offer straphangers weekly or monthly passes for unlimited travel and all riders off-peak and two-fare-zone discounts. Such discounts would be the first in New York's 90-year-old subway. "Right now, we're the only city where it's the same price whether you buy one ride or 100 rides," said Jay Walder, the MTA's executive director.

But even as it plans to give straphangers a break to increase ridership, the MTA still wants to raise the price of a single subway ride next year. The fare discounts would start in the subway next January and on Transit Authority buses by 1997. By the end of next month, automatic fare cards will be operating in 69 subway stations. The system, which uses a magnetic fare card that's swiped through an electronic reader, offers the TA new pricing options the token could not There are 3.3 million weekday subway riders HaaiMppmaiBniavni 1 Discount pricing plans on other subway systems in the U.S. and in France: tote CTTY: C4cgo Philadelphia Waah'qgtoq OX.

Boston Weekday ridership: 468,000 316,000 525,000 Singte ride fare: $1.50 $1.50 $1.00 Discount token- Nona ticket cost purchase: 10 purchase: 2 for $2.10 of $12.50 411,817 None Full fare $9 (3 days) $18 WA $0.93 purchase: 10 for $5.86 Fuflfare -V $165.40 i i $0.40 None $16 $58 Free $50 (2 weeks) $100 Transfer to bus: $0.30 1-day off-peak pass: None WeeWy pass: $18.50 Monthty pass: $72.00 "Fare is distance based; maximum tare is $3.15 As of March 22d, French franc is 17 cents Some stations require 2 tokens tor boarding and SOURCE: tlllUnXJTAH TRANSPORTATION AUTHOMTT 5 OB HIT QH voir ii eiiiiGi tlflllil 10 Sill ffiiillll linn By DENENE MILLNER said officials were discussing how; much they would charge for the car service, adding that it would probably be more than $2. Molinari praised Giuliani's decision. "The way the borough president looks at it. anything that can be done to reduce congestion on the Gowanus and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway is good for Staten Island," Molinari spokesman Rich Loconte said. 5 Councilwoman Kathryn Freed ID-Manhattan) shot back that Giuliani's decision was a political favor to Mo- linari.

"Quite frankly, we should secede and Staten Island should stay," she said. Giuliani defended his decision, saying it would generate revenue for the city. Daily News Staff Writer Mayor Giuliani is restoring car ferry service to Staten Island and in doing so. has set off fireworks with Manhattan and hiked the cost of a major transportation project The earliest date for the restoration is mid May. Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger blasted the plan yesterday, saying it would clog the Wall St area with even more cars, slow down the ferry service and ruin the beauty of a new and improved waterfront "There's just not much evidence that those things were taken into account here," Messinger said.

Cars were ferried from Staten Island to the downtown Whitehall Ferry Terminal for $2 each way until a fire persuaded former Mayor David Din-kins to shut the service in 1991. Complaining that the shutdown forced his constituents to pay $6 to cross the congested Verrazano Bridge, Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari added it to the list of reasons why Staten Island should secede. Giuliani announced Monday night that he would restore the service. That forced city transportation officials to rework an $85 million face-lift to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal. Ferrying cars adds $500,000 to the price tag, said state Economic Development Corp.

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