will new yorkers grow some guts & boycott the mta's unfair fare hikes?

Question

Or will they do as they always do & that's nothing? my guess is the latter. new yorkers talk the talk but in the end do nothing.

Answer 1

First off "18", if it was up to the New Yorkers, we would pay what is the FAIR price of what the MTA service is.....speaking for my commute that would be 15 cents!

But then again if you know anything about politics, you should know that while they hold these "public meetings" (mainly to give the "perception" that the politicians and board directors are "listening") the politicians are going to do whatever they are going to do anyway without us having any say in it! That has NOTHING to do with guts.

If New York City was an easily driveable city where parking was readily available EVERYWHERE, more people would do so. But it isn't. Add to the fact that there are also people in NYC that DO NOT have cars, the subways and buses are the lifeline here. And if you don't believe that, just go back to the strike of December 2005 (which actually happened 2 years to this day) when temperatures were subfreezing and people had few choices on trying to get around since unless you had 4 people in a car, you couldn't drive into Manhattan below a certain point.

A boycott in this case would serve NO purpose. Even if people DID a boycott, the MTA would only use it as an excuse to FURTHER raise fares figuring since less people are using mass transit, they have to make up the money somehow.

The only solution is come the next gubernatorial election where we can finally DUMP Eliot Spitzer since the state is the one that controls the MTA and the members of the board.

Answer 2

Very few New Yorkers would be willing to boycott MTA in the hope of saving a few dollars -- finding alternate transportation is itself very expensive.

Chris141, you are incorrect, Spitzer (and Bloomberg) approved the fare hike last week.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/11/2007-12-11_mayor_bloomberg_oks_mta_fare_hike.html

HFrank, you do realize the price of a monthly card is going up not $3 but $5?

Answer 3

You can boycott all you want, but how will you get around? In honesty, in comparison to other North American subways, the MTA is horrible. If you want to see the way a subway should be run, go to Montreal. I've ridden the MTA for almost 40 years, and believe me, they ought to pay us to ride those trains. The cars are filthy and reek of urine stench. The trains are late and overcrowded.

Answer 4

If you buy a monthly ticket it costs about $1.40 per ride. Even $2 is cheap. Go to many other cities, take DC a 20 minute ride costs more than $3 one way off peak and they charge by distance and so do many other mass transit lines and if you are riding peak or off peak. And the service in NYC is 24 hours unlike most other cities.

What we pay in NYC is dirt cheap.

Does the system have problems yes but many times when the train is late it is not the employees fault but passengers especially in the winter. I was on 2 trains last week where two passengers got sick and held up service.

Considering salaries in NYC are better than many other cities also. Many other places if you do not have a car you are in deep trouble and look at the price of gas.

Answer 5

Do you mean walk to work?
Don't visit loved ones?
Don't enjoy going to Holiday get togethers?

A boycott of the MTA in NYC is like a boycott of food. We need it to exist.

The only thing we can do is let the Govenor know of our dipleasure with the MTA board and remind him of when the next election is. Beyond that they have us by the 'short and curlies'.

Answer 6

I believe that all Buses and Subways should be free (paid for from general revenue) - since this would reduce traffic and pollution. That said the 3 bucks more I'll pay for my monthly metro card is not going to change my life much. In a time of great inflation in energy costs it doesn't seem unreasonable.

Answer 7

obviously you have no clear understanding of mass transit or what its like to live in nyc. you don't boycott your lifeline.

75% of new yorkers need the subway to survive and walking is not an option. most of us don't own cars either.

so as the first poster stated, boycotting the subway is boycotting our food

get a clue before you sound anymore ignorant

Answer 8

Boycott what? They haven't gone up yet. Spitzer just denied the Mta's request not to long ago.

Answer 9

trust me if we could we would, but the working poor NYers have to feed our children and pay our bills.

yes we can walk to work, but would you walk to work in the cold when the wind blowing makes it feel like 0 - 10 degrees? Its not easy, but NYers voices would be heard when the governor goes up for reelection. NYers don't forget.

Answer 10

that's like asking why don't high school kids all cut school.
but then again we have student cards =]