With Consequences Even More Dire Than The Last

So now the MTA pulls the school library card — massive cuts! fare hikes! — until the state finally relents:

Under the plan approved Wednesday, the base subway and bus fare rises to $2.50 from $2, with the change taking effect May 31. A monthly MetroCard would cost $103, up from $81. Riders on the Metro-North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road would see increases of at least 20 to 30 percent, beginning June 1. The fare on Long Island Bus, which serves Nassau County, would rise to $3.50 from $2.

The increases would mean that a person using a bonus pay-per-ride MetroCard solely to commute to and from work during the week would spend an additional $224 a year. A Long Island commuter who travels from Hicksville to Penn Station would pay $267 for a monthly ticket, up from $211, for a total additional cost of $672 a year.

Then there’s this:

CBS 2 took a closer look at the cost of one woman’s commute from New Rochelle to Manhattan. She works at 57th Street and 11th Avenue.

Healthcare executive Terry Cavanaugh changed gears with her commute nine years ago. She started driving to work on Manhattan’s west side after the train-shuttle-subway combination got to be too much.

She added up all the costs –– gas, tolls on the Henry Hudson bridge, and parking — and decided the extra expense was worth it.

“The beauty of this is I’m on my own schedule. If you’re 5 minutes late for the train, too bad, you missed it,” she says.

Today, the cost differential between driving and taking the train is pretty significant, but it’s about to narrow significantly. Currently a monthly pass from New Rochelle to Grand Central Terminal is $169. But that will go up $40 a month under this fare hike plan.

When you add up the current cost of gas, parking in Manhattan, and tolls versus a monthly train pass, parking at the New Rochelle station, and a monthly Metrocard for the subway, driving is $151 more expensive per month.

But after the fare and toll hikes, the car versus train cost difference narrows considerably to $102.