Nassau News

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LIRR Fare Increases

“I think gas prices are going up. Milk is going up. Everything is going on up, and now this is going up and it’s really going to hit commuters really hard,” said Westbury resident Gabriella Marist.

In March the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Long Island Rail Road) increased ticket fares from 3 to 4 percent. “It’s about $7 a month, which is not significant in of itself, though it concerns me the logic of the fair increase is not really apparent,” said Mineola resident Rikk Stone.

Last year, the LIRR saw a 6-percent increase in customers taking the train, a total of 86.1 million people. The increase is one of the bigger jumps in the years since September 11th, 2001. “Riders want to be on time, they want clean cars; they basically want safe service and it costs money. The conductors and the engineers, they want raises too. So you have a choice,” said Lawrence Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University. “You can tighten up on your administrative costs here and there. You can go and eliminate all the waste and abuse as possible; but at the end of the day you still have to pay your bills.”

Paying the bills is something the MTA will be doing in the future with billion-dollar construction projects underway in New York City. The MTA also has plans for expansion on Long Island by adding a third track to local communities -- including Westbury and Mineola -- to decrease congestion on the rails. “It's going to be a sizeable project. It's going to take quite a while,” said Westbury Mayor Ernest Strada. “We have three major crossings in this community and each time these crossings come under duress, they undergo a construction program.”

Some local mayors and the group “Community Against Rail Expansion” are concerned about the expansion. The third rail may be necessary to accommodate the growth on Long Island, but the idea of the third rail frightens them.

“They're going to have to say we need to build a third track -- we know it’s going to create quite a disruption,” said Strada. “This is what we're doing and this is how we are going to avoid major impacts to your community [Westbury], and we'll try to get through this thing together.”

Other communities have benefited from the third track, allowing alternatives to be taken to free up congestion by moving trains around when problems occur.

“I think they should have the third rail. We have the third rail here so it's not bothering us,” said Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall. “Certain lines don't have it, like going out to South Hampton they got to take that diesel, but they should have a third rail.”

To install the third track, it seems that the MTA will have to provide details from the construction plans to gain support for the expansion project.

“It should be studied more before we make a rash decision before saying no. It's one of those things where I know its going to disrupt people but you should look at the big picture and see if it can be done less disruptively,” said Westbury resident Walter Stewart.

Here is a map of the train lines for the LIRR stretching from Manhattan to the Hampton’s. (MTA)
• Sander gives first “State of the Union” on the status of the MTA. The plan focuses on subway systems in Manhattan to alleviate congestion. (Columbia Spectator. March 4th, 2008)

• The 2007 total number of riders on the LIRR was the largest in the 60 years of the MTA with 86.1million passengers during the calendar year. (MTA)

• Even with the increase in LIRR fares taking the train into the city is still cheaper with the price of gas and tolls. (Newsday. February 29th, 2008)

• The MTA has unveiled a new 40 year plan that would focus on expanding the reach of some of the MTA’s tracks while focusing on the new five year plan. (Secondavenuesagas.com. March 4th, 2008)

Slide Show of Mineola Train Station

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

To view a video interview with Larry Levy, executive director of the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University , click on the embedded player below. For a transcript of the interview click here.

Wayne Hall, Mayor of the Village of Hempstead, is against the LIRR fares increase. To see the full interview click below. For a transcript click here.

Ernest Strada, Westbury Mayor, has lived in the village his entire life. Click below to see his thoughts on the LIRR fare increase and the third track. For a transcript of the interview click here.

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