New Yorkers protest against transit fare increase

New York, NY – On Sunday, September 21, around 50 people rallied near Prospect Park in Brooklyn to demand a stop to all fare increases and the expansion of the “fair fares” discounted fare program. The MTA board is scheduled to vote on a fare increase at their monthly board meeting on September 30.

The rally was organized by the Fare Ain’t Fair coalition, spearheaded by the December 12th Movement (D12), a Pan-African human rights organization based in New York City. The campaign was launched earlier this year to halt the MTA’s proposed fare hike and won a deferral of the planned hike until January 1 of next year.

Speakers called out the absurdity of raising the cost of transit on poor and working-class New Yorkers during an affordability crisis. One in five New Yorkers are already unable to afford the current fare of $5.80 round-trip. Transit is a daily necessity for people getting to work.

Despite the MTA spending a billion a year to combat fare evasion, fare evasion will simply increase with increasing fares. The solution, speakers said, is to make the subway affordable, first by canceling all future fare hikes and expanding the discounted fare program, and eventually by taxing the Wall Street and the wealthy and making transit free.

Briony Smith, an organizer with the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR), a participating organization with the Fare Ain’t Fair coalition, said, “The MTA’s proposed fare hike is an attack on poor and working-class New Yorkers, who are already struggling to get by. At the same time, the NYPD and MTA PD presence throughout the transit continues to increase. We saw where this leads, when the NYPD shot Derrell Mickles and several bystanders last year after Derrell Mickels allegedly evaded the fare. It is just a matter of time before this violence repeats itself. That is why NYAARPR has not only joined the Fare Ain’t Fair Coalition, but also leads the campaign for Cops Off the Subway.”

Protesters then marched to the house of Janno Lieber, CEO of NYC’s Metropolitan Transit Association (MTA), where the crowd chanted “The fare ain’t fair! The poor won’t pay more!” and “Janno Leiber wants to raise the fare! Get the hell out of here!” Even Lieber’s own neighbors expressed their support for the protesters.

On September 30, NYAARPR will be stacking public comment at the MTA board meeting to demand money be redirected from adding cops to the train and instead put towards initiatives that will actually benefit the community, including reducing or eliminating the fare.

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