The subway might pass some Bushwick students by after planned MTA budget cuts. — Photo by Diego Cupolo
Though a few years ago the MTA was in the black and giving out $100 million in cut-rate rides, recent financial problems have forced the transit agency to raise rates and cut some service. The next item on the chopping block in the current MTA budget proposal: free and reduced-fare MetroCards that many middle- and low-income students in New York City depend on to get to school.
This past December, the MTA approved cuts that would eliminate these school transportation subsidies. According to the city’s Department of Education, over half a million students get free full- or half-fare MetroCards. If the cuts are approved, by September 2011, all students would have to pay full fares, which adds up to approximately $750 per student each school year.
In low-income Bushwick, this could mean less opportunity for students who are unable to afford a commute to magnet schools in other areas.
At the New York Harbor School on Irving Avenue, principal Nathan Dudley says at least 70% of the student body uses half-fare or full-fare MetroCards. They commute from all over the city: East New York, Flatbush — one student comes in from Staten Island.
“It’s going to have a huge effect in a negative way,” Dudley said. “Our students are very reliant on those MetroCards.”
15-year-old Adriana Aviles lives in Bushwick, but attends Brooklyn International High School in downtown Brooklyn, which specializes in helping new English-learners. As a native Spanish-speaker, Adriana chose this school to thrive academically while improving her English. But it’s a 30-minute subway commute from Myrtle-Broadway, her nearest station.
“I have no idea how I would get to school without the card,” lamented Aviles.
To make the cuts official, a second vote is scheduled for the coming weeks. The state and city reduced MetroCard subsidies in the 1990s, leaving the MTA to foot the bill, and the agency argues that no other transit authority in the country covers the cost of student travel.
Mario January 12th, 2010 at 5:40 pm
When I was a school kid (lower-middle class) in the 60s, the transit subsidy was only about 33%. We thought that was terrific. But if we had to pay the full fare, one or two fewer candy bars per week would have closed the gap.
Just because people use these fare reduction cards doesn’t prove that they wouldn’t be able to afford to go to school without them. But if they value school so little that they are not willing to give up some candy, I doubt that they are getting much out of school anyway.
Matt January 13th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
$4.50 a day. That’s some expensive candy they must be eating, Mario.
Professional Alternative January 13th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I get Mario’s point — certainly there are some costs that can be cut from family entertainment and diverted to school transportation, especially for kids who go to advanced or specialized schools. But it is certainly a hard thing to have dropped on you suddenly, and especially now.
Michael DiSanto January 13th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
yah Mario, if everyone cut out just 1 or 2 candy bars per day our healthcare system might be fixed too and maybe al qaeda would stop hating us.