Paying to ride: should students have to front the cost of a MetroCard?

The perpetually cash-strapped MTA is making several proposals to fill their funding gap over the next few years. Along with giving the pink slip to thousands of employees, reducing line frequency and increasing fares, the organization is proposing making students pay for the price of a MetroCard. At present, students in the New York City school system do not have to shell out the money for transport.






While making everyone pay their fair share is the best way to help the MTA, recent statistics reveal that it is not only students who ride for free. MTA employees, including those who work in the corporate sector, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North all receive compensated transport. I suppose this is fine given that they need to go to and from work. Also included in this statistic are police officers and transit police who use the subway system for proper duties.





The problem lies in the fact that this is not where the free rides stop. Along with police and current MTA employees, retirees, spouses and dependents of the system all ride without paying. How many free fares are being given out you ask? Let’s look at this morning’s Metro newspaper stats: 15,000 retirees; at least 10,087 spouses of employees; and at least 4,000 dependants. If charged the actual price of a MetroCard, this would infuse over $31 million into the organization by itself.





The question remains: is it fair to charge students to ride when there are so many other ways to cut costs and increase revenue?