On August 20, 2023 New York City‘s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) instituted a 5% increase for the cost of a single subway or bus trip, with the base price going from $2.75 to $2.90. The previous fare hike took place in 2015.
From the inauguration of subway services in 1904 until the previously separate Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit (BMT) and Independent (IND) lines were unified into one system in 1948, the fare for a subway ride of any length was 5¢.
For 44 years the fare was 5¢ — at first glance, 1/58 of the fare today. But that’s misleading.
In 1904, 5¢ was equivalent to $1.63 in 2022 dollars. And it represented a much larger chunk of the average salary than the current fare does today.
Available statistics for 1905 show that that nickel was about 1/2% of the average male worker’s weekly wage ($11.16) and 8/10% of the average woman’s weekly wage ($6.17).
If subway riders worked five days a week, the ten fares represented 5% and 8% respectively of their income. If they worked 6 days a week, the 12 fares consumed 6% and 9.6% of their salary.
Compare that with our current situation: $2.90 represents 1/4% of the median New York City weekly income ($1,149).
Ten fares a week eats up 2.5% of that amount; multiple-fare deals come in at less. Also, since 1997, the MTA has allowed free transfers between buses and subways.
A version of this article was first published in the Blackwell’s Almanac, a publication of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. The Roosevelt Island Historical Society, founded in 1977 to recover, maintain and disseminate the record of Roosevelt Island’s heritage from colonial times to the present. Visit their website at www.rihs.us.
Photo above: NYC subway riders warming up in the El station at 72nd St and Columbus Ave, February 6, 1936 photographed by Berenice Abbott.
The NYPD Spent $150 Million to Catch Farebeaters Who Cost the MTA $104,000
https://hellgatenyc.com/the-nypd-spent-150-million-to-catch-farebeaters-who-cost-the-mta-104000
What goes on underground mirrors what’s happening on the surface. A little misleading, dear Observer. -1. MTA is a STATE authority. 2 -. When Bratton ran the Transit Police before merger into NYPD, the lesson learned from turnstile jumping enforcement was: catching a guy with an outstanding murder-warrant from Detroit. True, an extreme example … but what followed over time was increased public confidence in traveling safely on the subways (increa$ed revenue) and efforts to upgrade the rolling-stock (a/c, digital signage) and amenities of stations, etc.
Let’s not even discuss MetroCard and PayByPhone options. Picture this 1964-68: Before Xpress Busses from outer boros, bus and subway fares were always equal (tran$fers xtra). As an undergraduate student in The Bronx, adjacent to Broadway, I could/did walk the mile to/from furnished-room and campus to save the 20cents. The token came about when fare rose above 10cents, and ‘a slice’ cost 15cents. I enjoyed pizza occasionally, walked on clear days and rode bus on bad days; keeping me full and in shape. The best part of me is my legs! :-) Please stand clear of the closing doors.