Newsday from New York, New York • 23

Hidden Costs to City Transit Hike v- jJ is Vi 4u A look at Other. Transit Systems "ll Boroughs Pan MTA Deferrals Daily riders hip 650,000 on Abuses, street Oars, corniputj rail Annual budget next year $686 subway faresTSicentSsrAt Elderly and handicaboed 10 cents with ID card. during off-peak hours. Starting hls year, seniors pay full-fare during peak hours. Handicapped pay half'." 'fared est fare from farthest point outsldeofS 85-eent fare in and lOtoken'packsLft Street cars 75 cents to $1.90 is high-1 'est fare from farthest ooint outside of -5 1 city 75 cents collected outbound ($1 under new.fares).Transfars are-V from downtown stations, but free 40 cents with discount token.

Sub-Lfrom outiylnd stations. bus'-- ride- underflow fare Monthly passes Unlimited travelftuld be $1,40. With TransPass, un-L SoW at less than cost of 40 trips. rides $12 weekly ($15 under Special features Credit card-like new, fare) $45 ($55 proposed) passes available for subwav-oniv. monthly bus-only, subway-bus combo opA tions.

Discounts available on liability -insurance for drivers who document 1.6miJiion bus offer direct and pas payroU deduction and pass distribu- By Paul Marinaccio The proposed transit fare hikes would take millions of extra dollars a (fay from the pockets of New Yorkers and seriously strain the resources of the working poor, according to economists and officials. But the experts say the size of the hikes is probably not enough to either inflate the economy or dampen consumer spending. Yet they concede that the anger commuters have expressed about the fare hikes could be a wild card that could throw off their careful calculations and harm the citys economy. In an expensive city where inflation is already running ahead of the rest of the country, many New Yorkers simply arent in the mood to pay 15 cents more for the subway, six bits extra for a cab, a dollar more for the bridge and about 15 percent more for the train. A poll conducted for New York Newsday found that nearly one of every four daily subway riders is less likely to take the subway if the MTA raises the fare from $1 to $1.15.

The MTA board is to vote on the fare hike today. It is the straw-that-breaks-the-camels-back issue, the psychological issue, said Rosemary Scanlon, chief economist of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. By reinforcing the image of the region as a high-cost area, the mass transit hikes could influence residents decisions on where to live and work, how to get there and even whether to bargain differently at raise time. Although public transport tation accounts for little more than 2 percent of the cost of living, Samuel Ehrenhalt, regional commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, says the psychological impact of an increase in a daily living item cant be discounted. This might be the basis for asking your employer for a raise, he said.

And for New York Citys working poor, a 15-cent subway and bus hike would be a clear financial hit. Its a steep increase and it is going to have a big impact on lower-income families whose incomes, while no longer declining as they were in the 1970s, are doing not much better than bottoming out in this decade, said Emanuel Tobier, an economist and professor of public policy at New York University. Tobier said the proportion of low- Please see HIKE on Page 43 pl1! tion. On Sundays pasThokters al8888 towed free ride for one quest. derly handicapped 50 ifeoents; proposed $1.15 for token and return coupon; 55 cents on buses Dally ridership 41.2 million, InchWing tk, Bus fare $1 $1 .1 5 4 commuter rail riders.

Budget $626 Express buses $3.50. $4.60 pro- poeed 'Semf-monthly, bus passv; Base Subway' fare tf -r-V-t tottery funds No other passes or cflsoounts offered gpgdal State" ft dedicated to keep senior citizen fare general SOURCE: Naw York Ma(roptw Tranal 8ytm. SouHwaM Psnnsyrwnls TrsnaportsUon ft. Authority, lachmaUi Bsy Tranaportstion AultxxiryV budget next year nearly $3 Newsday Mark Wauben eidering changing that process because its difficult for state financial planning, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Peter Di-mond said. But transit Bystems elsewhere Boston and Philadelphia among them have been guided by the logic that discount fares entice more riders and increase convenience.

And they are reaping the rewards in increasing ridership and revenues. Get Ready for MTA from Page 2 posal. The current fare is $3.50. Long Island representatives fear that 15 percent increases alter a period of dismal on-time performance is sure to drive more commuters away. And representatives of Metro-North commuters are pondering the budget impact of Connect icutt's apparent refusal to approve a fare increase on its portion of Metro-North service.

Board member Laura Blackburne said she wont decide whether to approve the subway and bus fare hike until hearing whether her request for 100 more transit police year has been added into, the budget Flexible Transit Fares Abound in Other Cities By Bob Lift While todays Metropolitan Transportation Authority meeting will focus on raising the cost of a subway token, leaders in Brooklyn and Queens are fighting another agenda item that would let the Transit Authority postpone $101 million in modernization projects of major subway hubs. The expected cutbacks would affect previously approved overhauls at Atlantic Avenue and at the Flat-bush-Nostrand Ave. IRT terminus in Brooklyn and at the Main Street-Flushing terminus in Queens. The projects are part of $333.4 million in proposed deferrals from the $6.5 billion five-year capital program scheduled to run through 1991. The MTA is expected to vote on the deferrals today.

Other deferrals include plans to make three stations accessible to the elderly and handicapped, and work on track, communications and train yards. More than $160 million of those funds would instead be diverted toward funding a proposed Automatic Fare Control Modernization system, designed to cut down on the $60 million the TA estimates it loses annually from fare remaining money would be spent on other projects. In Brooklyn, the key station where work would be deferred is a $26.6 million overhaul of the Atlantic Avenue complex in downtown Brooklyn which serves the Long Island Rail Road, IRT trains heading for both the Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue lines in Manhattan, and the and lines. In Queens, officials plan to take the $7.7 million planned for the modernization of the Main Street station and Epend it on cost increases to renovations at the 59th Street-Columbus Circle station in Manhattan, according to internal TA documents. Set to Say Yes Those budgets include proposals to raise fares for the first time since January, 1986, to cover rising operating costs and projected deficits next year.

The TA fare would increase 15 cents to $1.15. It is a very strong proposal that matches the budget needs, said MTA First Vice Chairman Daniel T. Scanncll. referring to the proposed TA $1.15 fare. Theres no question the increase is needed.

It was always just a question of how it Bhould be configured, he said. Initially, a fare of $1.25. with a discount option to buy 18 tokens for $20, was proposed but was withdrawn after politicians balked, saying people who needed the discount the most couldn't ELSEWHERE from Page 2 approves a third capital plan to finance a pricey $600-million system. And offering free transfers between buses and subways would result in too much revenue loss, TA officials argue. Direct comparisons between New York and other cities are tough because the budgets and ridership of other systems pale in contrast to New Yorks $3-biliion operating budget and daily service to 5.3 million riders.

However, subway rides in Boston range from a base fare of 75 cents to $1.50 from three stations outside the city. Transit systems everywhere, like New York, are facing tough budget problems. In Philadelphia, for instance, citizens groups blocked the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's fare hike approved in April, resulting in a $2-million loss of revenue monthly. Those same groups, however, are lobbying along with the authority in asking the state to increase dedicated sources of transit funding, said David Murdock, a spokesman for the authority. In Boston, the operating deficit is larger than New Yorks.

The Legislature is billed each year for the amount of the projected deficit and must cover that amount, which last year was $316 million of the lion, budget. State, lawmakers- are con NEWSDAY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15. 1989 Hike; MTA Whatever we do this coming year, we must increase the safety of the Bystem for our passengers. Without that assurance, I am not prepared to vote for an increase, she said.

Herbert Libert said he has not decided whether to approve the LIRR increase because of bad service. But the budget shortfalls are real, he Baid. Were caught between the horns'of a dilemma. Ill have to toss a coin tonight, he said. But overall, the plans are likely to pass much as first proposed, board members said.

The board votes today on next years operating budgets of nearly $3 billion for the TA, $462 million for Metro-North, and $635 million for the.