|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
This Fall, the NYC Ferry will be increasing its prices for single-tickets. As reported by the NY Post, beginning Sept. 9th, single-trip tickets will increase from $4 to $4.50, the NYC Ferry announced last month. Commuters who buy a 10-trip bundle at $29 will still keep their per-ticket costs lower at $2.90. The price increase for the water view commute is the latest price hike this summer for transit customers.
The increase will help the NYC Ferry fund “rider-facing” upgrades, and help the long-term sustainability of the service, the New York City Economic Development Corporation said in a news release. Officials at the EDC, which manages the service, also said the agency aims to lower the ferry’s per-passenger subsidy by 30% and is “on track” to reaching this goal. The ferry is already the only transit system in the boroughs to lower its per-passenger subsidy since the pandemic. The EDC also announced that the some 350,000 New York City high school students are now eligible to join the NYC Ferry system’s discount program for weekday travel to and from school. For enrollment information, parents can go online to the NYC Ferry Discount Program webpage beginning on Aug. 1st.
The price for a single-ticket NYC ferry ride already increased in 2022, from $2.75 to $4. That same year, the NYC Ferry Discount Program began, providing reduced-fare rides for senior, low-income and disabled riders as part of the Ferry Forward Plan, under Mayor Eric Adams. Reduced fare single tickets will cost $1.45 this fall, up from $1.35. Even as the program launched, critics including the Independent Citizens Budget Commission said the reduced fares were too low, noting the high rate of subsidies. The CBC made a statement in 2022, encouraging the NYC EDC to, “if appropriate, increase fares or change routes and timetables, even if they decrease ridership but allow redeployment of subsidy dollars to other high-value initiatives.”
The Fall price increase come at the foot of higher ridership for the NYC Ferry. In fiscal year 2023, there was historically high ridership of 6.6 million passengers. In 2024, ridership continued to grow to 7 million riders, the Post reported.
Commuters across the Big Apple’s five boroughs have experienced price hikes for all forms of public transportation. Per the Post, last August, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority increased the fares for subway and bus service as well as the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North. The price for a single subway ride is now $2.90, up from $2.75. Similarly, this July, NJ Transit riders were dealt a 15% rate hike for bus, railroad and light rail lines. Also, Citi Bike, operated by Lyft, announced its prices would be increasing by 20% for both members and non-members.
The MTA has more price hikes planned for subway, bus and commuter railroad riders, as part of it’s five-year plan. Commuters will face another fare hike of 4% in 2025, and again another 4% increase in 2027, raising a single ride ticket to $3 and then $3.14 after two years. Gov. Kathy Hochul has put a halt on the city’s congestion pricing plan.
