Metrocard prices might be going down for commuter students
‘It’s important that people aren’t punished for putting off entering the workforce full-time in order to get an education’
Remember those good old days in high school when the state provided you with a metrocard instead of having you buy one? Well we won’t exactly get those again, but commuter students (most of CUNY) might be able to relive those glory days fairly soon.
Senator Chuck Schumer is proposing a new bill that’ll cut costs of transit by 25% for anyone forced to take the train to class.
About 250 million dollars will be given as reimbursement to all participating transit agencies and the money will be taken from the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
We technically pay to deal with this
New York has close to one third of commuter students in the country, so the bill can do wonders for us.
When asked about the new bill, English major Mathilde Amigorena said: “Sounds great.
“I don t understand how MTA fares are so high and the train system is so bad.
“My train this morning went slow motion all the way from Bleecker to Hunter and I was late to class.
“So yeah it would help not feel so cheated if we paid a little less.”
Similarly Josh Bass, a 22 year old senior majoring in Political Science, said: “I’m excited at the prospect.
“Students need more consumer protections.
“It’s important that people aren’t punished for putting off entering the workforce full-time in order to get an education.”
But while some saw the good that the new bill can bring, others still weighed in on an overall issue that is not being addressed.
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Quent Chiafolo, a Theater major, said: “I do think this should have happened a while ago.
“The rising Metrocard prices have been ridiculous and hurt those who currently can’t and won’t get a job that pays enough to cover Metrocard costs and rising tuition.
“This doesn’t really solve a larger problem of skyrocketing prices for metrocards, which is experiencing an upward trend similar to rising rent prices in the city.
“It makes the most vocal group against the MTA complacent and through that, the loudest group stops complaining.”
So is the bill meant to keep the lid on peaking prices of transit, or will it actually help? Let’s just hope that we won’t be spending five dollars for a single ride anytime soon.