MTA’s planned fare hikes bring public to Hostos Community College

The MTA was at Hostos Community College Thursday for its second of about a dozen public hearings regarding its fare hike plan.
The proposal would increase tolls on bridges, the LIRR and Metro-North. For Bronx residents who take the subway, there are a few options the MTA is considering:
Option 1: Keep the base fare the same at $2.65 with the MetroCard bonus eliminated.
Option 2: The base fare increases to $3, and the MetroCard bonus increases by 10 percent on any transaction over $6.
In Option 1, the 30-day and unlimited MetroCard cost would be $127. In option 2, it is $126.25.
The RFK, Throgs Neck, Whitestone bridges and the Midtown Tunnel would see an increase from $8.50 to $9.50. For E-ZPass users, tolls increase from $5.76 to $5.99 under option 1, and to $6.22 under option 2.
Sacha Murphy, of the group "Swipe It Forward," is worried that the fare hike is not taking working-class New Yorkers into consideration. She says it will especially have an adverse effect on students.
The MTA says it blames the decrease in their revenue to ride hailing apps and fare evasion.
Many of those speaking out during the hearing mentioned the tax break Amazon recently got from Gov. Cuomo for bringing their HQ2 project to Long Island City. They say those billions of dollars could have been used to fix the transportation system.
More forums are planned throughout New York City, Westchester and Long Island over the coming months.
The hikes are expected to begin March of 2019.