It is not a good idea to raise the subway fares of weekly Metrocards from 21 dollars to 24 dollars and monthly cards from 70 dollars to as much as 84 dollars. It is going to affect commuter students dramatically, if MTA raises the fares to what it has already proposed. The commuter students would be considered the first group to be affected. According to a New York Time survey, many of the students who attend colleges and universities are poor and unemployee unemployed. Most of them apply for financial aid and base on the financial aid use the financial aid to continue their education. If the subway fare is increased again since the year 2002, the commuter students will have to pay 84 dollars a month. if we do the math, the commuter students will need to pay 336 dollars a semester, it's almost equal to the price of the text books for a semester. Even though it is not a lot of money for many students, it will help those needy students incredibly if the subway fares are not to be increased instead to decrease.
It is untimely to increase the subway fares because the cost of Metrocards has just been adjusted and increased from 1.5 dollars to 2 dollars per ride in 2002. The people who live in New York City earn wage differently, some make as much as 50 thousand dollars a year or more than that. Some just earn the minimum wage as little as 5.15 dollars an hour. Moreover, the minimum wage did not increase much only by about a quarter at a time. If we compare the increased price of the subway fare to the amount of increased minimum wage, we will find out that they are unbalanced. It does not seem any good to fit this society and help those who earn the minimum wage. As a resident of New York City and a new immigrant, I know that if the subway fare is to be increased again, many poor, unemployed and minimum wage makers will be burdened and life here in NYC will be harder for them.According to time magazine, the majority of NYC residents said," the recent subway fare does not equal to the quality of service. Even when commuters pay the money for the ride with 2 dollars at a time, they are like in the mixed soup bowl during the weekends. Sometimes they do not know what to do when the subway delays and stops at the middle of the track or where to transfer to get to their own destination. I personally experienced these problems as well, so I believe that the MTA should increase the quality of service first, not the money first.
Admin:----
Posted at Dec 01/2004 09:52 AM:
B