MTA Fare Hikes Present Minor Nuisance

April 10, 2013

By PATRICK MULLEN

STAFF WRITER

Photo by Elizabeth Zanghi/The Ram Although the MTA recently instituted a raise in prices, the increase is minor and is not likely to drastically affect students. — *Photo by Elizabeth Zanghi/The Ram* Although the MTA recently instituted a raise in prices, the increase is minor and is not likely to drastically affect students.

The month of March may have been a little rough for a lot of commuting students at Fordham. A single ride has increased from $2.25 to $2.50, with a monthly MetroCard now at $112. While the price increase may be somewhat small, it is of considerable size in proportion to the ticket price.

It gets even worse when one considers that this is one of many price hikes in the past few years. In 2008, a monthly MetroCard was only $76. Even as students are getting used to these new prices, the underclassmen should brace themselves for future price hikes expected in 2015.

This potentially poses some great problems for students. With $5 round trip, commuting students may have to create different class schedules for the upcoming semester. When a student might have previously gone home between two classes, he or she may now have to stay at Rose Hill for a longer time. It may be inconvenient for a student to have to revise his or her schedule around the price hikes, but it may make a great deal of sense.

The price hikes may have even more impact on extra-curricular activities. Bronx resident Charlie Holland, FCRH ’15, says he could see something like this affecting his or someone else’s campus involvement.

While he said that he “[doesn’t] think it’s going to impact [his] student life very much,” he did feel that certain activities on weekends may be brushed aside due to higher prices.

Many athletic events, such as football games, take place on Saturdays, and a great many more intramural games are played on weekends. If one goes to the University Church — and there are some commuting students who do — one may be encouraged to find a church one can get to without using the subway or a bus.

Brooklyn resident Rahitul Bhuiyan, FCRH ’15, offered a counterpoint, explaining that he had a monthly ticket. He says that with a monthly ticket of $112 or the equivalent of nearly 45 rides, he finds himself going out of his way to travel just to get his money’s worth. If a month is 20 days of classes, one would only spend $100 on single fares, so it would not be worth getting a monthly ticket. Bhuiyan did say that the price increase was a bit of a nuisance, but also said that he did not see the need to complain about it, because he is not having problems going to classes or doing things outside of school.

Though the price hikes are small, we could see extra-curricular involvement decreased by commuting students; there are solutions around this, however. The monthly ticket, as Bhuiyan points out, can cover every class one has to go to and leave plenty of additional opportunities to come to campus, but that is only if a student is willing to spend $112 every month on transportation.

It may not be such a bad deal, considering the price of gas for those who travel by other means. Many drivers now find it costs around $60 to fill their car; someone filling it every week or so pay about twice as much the value of a monthly MetroCard. Additionally, with all the sporting events and extra-curricular activities one can attend at Fordham on the weekends and the fun things to do all over New York, a monthly pass is not such a bad idea.

We should not be surprised, considering the recent state of the economy, that there have been price hikes during the sequestration. Despite this nuisance, these prices may not be as bad as they could be, or even will be in the future. Perhaps we should all enjoy the $2.50 fare; two years from now, this may look extremely reasonable.

Patrick Mullen, FCRH ’15, is a theology and political science major from Delafield, Wisc.