NFTA going forward with fare increase

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is going forward with plans for a fare increase.

Get ready. The cost of riding Metro Bus and Rail is going up.

NFTA Chairman Gregory Stamm said, "Effective January, were only putting in a 25 cent increase."

That pushes the adult boarding fare from a $1.50 to a $1.75.

Bus rider Bonnie Smith said, "I'm not happy with it. But what are you going to do? That's life."

The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority committees voted in the fare hike Thursday morning.

At the same time, commissioners left the door open for another $0.25 hike in July.

Bus rider Bernice Kusek said, "If it's going to be. It's got to be. I got to take a bus. I don't drive."

Among other things, NFTA budget projections are based on what it receives in local, state and federal subsidies.

If Governor David Paterson's projected state budget holds, the NFTA will be getting about two million dollars less this time around.

Stamm said, "Bus companies do not make money anywhere in this country. And unless we're properly subsidized the people who ride the bus wind up suffering. And we don't want that to happen."

Sam Hoyt is a member of the State Assembly Transportation Committee.

He's calling on the NFTA to go back to the drawing board before hitting riders for another quarter.

Sam Hoyt (D-Assembly, Buffalo) said, "They haven't convinced me that they've done everything humanly possible to reduce their own expenses."

In the meantime, riders like Walter Smith who depend on public transportation will need to dig deeper come next year.

News 4's Luke Moretti asked, "Can you afford this?"

Walter Smith said, "No. I get no help. I'm on a fixed income. I won't be riding it as much as I used to."

Stamm said, "We can cut everything in this house. But we can't make buses pay for themselves."

The fare hike must still be approved by the NFTA's full Board of Commissioners during a meeting set for Monday.

A proposal to charge rail riders along Buffalo's "fare-free" zone, between Scott and Tupper Streets, is off the table for now.