Straphangers group to protest new MTA subway and bus fares

With the MTA’s multi-ride MetroCard fares set to rise on Sunday, a straphangers advocacy group will greet the new price hikes with a protest.

Activists from the Fair Fares coalition will rally against the increase on Sunday, at 1 p.m., outside Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The group will also ask Mayor Bill de Blasio “to ease the burden for low-income New Yorkers by including funding for half-priced MetroCards in the city’s 2018 budget,” it said in a statement announcing the planned protest.

Following the rally, the Riders Alliance, another grassroot transit advocacy organization, will head down into the Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center subway station, where they will recreate the “subway therapy” Post-it note phenomenon.

The group will ask subway riders to write messages on Post-it notes for a “Fair Fares mosaic,” to help illustrate how riders would benefit from lower fares, according to the statement. The organization said the mosaic will eventually be shared with the mayor.

The Post-it notes therapy started in New York City subway stations following the presidential election, as a way to express their feelings. It eventually spread to other cities.

According to the Fair Fares coalition numbers, 800,000 New Yorkers would be eligible for the discounted MetroCards, should the mayor decide to go that route.

In January, the MTA voted on a compromise to increase fare revenue by lowering the bonus amount on MetroCard multi-ride purchases instead of hiking the cost of each ride, thereby maintaining a $2.75 fare for each bus or subway ride.

While the $2.75 base fare will remain the same, the 11 percent bonus on MetroCard purchases of $5.50 and over will drop to 5 percent. That means a rider will have to buy 20 full fares before getting one for free. When factoring the bonus into each ride, the cost is $2.62.

Monthly unlimited MetroCards will increase from $116.50 to $121, and weekly MetroCards increase from $31 to $32.