The LIRR and Metro-North's respective tariffs define which types of tickets the railroads sell, the fares for those tickets, and related policies with regard to the validity and honoring of those ticket types. A joint monthly ticket with a $50 MetroCard is listed as a ticket type sold by the LIRR in section 1 of its tariff.
Procedures for changes to the railroad's fare structure are defined in state and federal law. NYS Public Authorities Law §1266(3) states that "[a]ny such fares, tolls, rentals, rates, charges or other fees for the transportation of passengers shall be established and changed only if approved by resolution of the authority adopted by not less than a majority vote of the whole number of members of the authority then in office, with the chairman having one additional vote in the event of a tie vote, and only after a public hearing", meaning that any and changes to fares must be the subject of a public hearing and approved by the MTA Board before taking effect.
The elimination of this ticket type was never mentioned on the notice of public hearing for these fare increases, nor was any mention of this elimination mentioned in the fare and toll change materials voted on by the MTA Board in February, suggesting neither of the requirements for fare changes written in NYS law have been observed.
Furthermore, federal regulations require all providers of public transportation to develop written procedures consistent with 49 CFR 21.5(b)(2), 49 CFR 21.5(b)(7), and Appendix C to 49 CFR 21 to evaluate, prior to implementation, all fare changes, to determine whether those changes will have a discriminatory impact on certain populations, and states that the written procedures must be included in the provider's Title IV plan. The LIRR and Metro-North's Title VI plan state that such analyses would be conducted for fare changes.
Title VI regulations require all transit agencies to perform an equity analysis prior to implementing any "fare changes", to make sure that a particular fare change does not disproportionately impact disadvantaged populations. Reporting requirements under Title VI (49 CFR 21.9(b)) require that a copy of board meeting minutes or a resolution demonstrating the board's or governing entity's consideration, awareness, and approval of the equity analysis for any fare changes be included as part of the documentation reported under Title VI. No such analysis appears to have been performed by the MTA, as required by Title VI, or, at a minimum it was never included in the fare and toll change package the MTA Board resolved to approved in February, nor has the acknowledgement and approval of the analysis been documented in any subsequent meeting minutes or resolution documentation, as required under 49 CFR 21.9(b).
FTA guidance for Title VI regulations (also rooted in the reporting requirements set forth under 49 CFR 21.9(b)) point out that fare equity analyses must consider fare usage by fare type, directing that demographic information shall be collected on fare usage by fare type amongst minority and low-income users in order to assist with a fare equity analysis.
While the planned elimination of the joint $50 MetroCard ticket option may not seem life-altering (although needing to make a separate trip to a NYCT station to separately add funds to the MetroCard is an inconvenience for riders), that's not the point. The requirements for fare changes written in state and federal law exist to protect riders—the MTA may not unilaterally change fares or fare types, regardless of the perceived impact. If the MTA feels free to make minor fare changes at its convenience, subverting the authority of the MTA Board, what is to say they won't later attempt to make more significant changes (including dollars and cents increases to fares)?
This is not the first time the MTA has tried to pull this trick. Back with the 2015 fare increase, the LIRR initially tried to eliminate the stop-over provision on one-way tickets—again unilaterally, and without MTA Board approval. The MTA retracted that change at the last minute and instead eliminated the provision through the proper channels several months later, but this is not the MTA's first attempt at eliminating tariff provisions at its sole convenience, and contrary to established procedures for fare changes.
What really eats at me about this whole situation is the MTA uses excuses about tariff restrictions and the MTA Board's charge to set fare policy to justify not doing anything about unpopular or illogical fare policies. When asked why the LIRR was not offering standalone vouchers to use the South Fork Commuter Connection shuttles either without taking the train or in conjunction with commutation or reduced fare tickets, the MTA said they couldn't because it wasn't a ticket type listed in the tariff. When LIRR President Phillip Eng was challenged at a customer conversation event about certain fares and fare policy aspects, he dodged questions by saying that fares and fare policies are set by the MTA Board. Yet, with the other hand, the railroad seems to have no issue unilaterally modifying fare policies when it suits them.
Again, the elimination of the $50 MetroCard option is not a catastrophic change in fare policy, but it's a change nonetheless, and the bigger problem I have is the agency's failure to follow the established (and legally required!) practices for going about these changes. If the MTA proposed back in November to eliminate this joint option, heard and considered public input at the hearings, and added a sentence to the resolution the MTA Board approved in February, I'm sure nobody would have had any major objections—but the MTA should not be allowed to bypass the processes out of convenience.
I asked the railroad online what's the deal with this change, and why they felt it was appropriate to bypass the requirements in NYS law, but they declined to respond.
