The MTA with cash will no longer offer free taxi rides to commuters who have been severely affected by nightly closure of the Gov. metro. Andrew Cuomo, said officials of passage Friday.
The program, which serves about 1,500 people a night who face “too long journeys” as a result of the 1-hour to 5-hour night shutdowns, will stop operations at the end of August, said interim president Sarah Feinberg in a statement.
“At the height of the pandemic, it was critically important to ensure that essential workers who depended on the metro could reliably switch to overnight stays, and without spending much more time on their commute than they were accustomed to,” he said. said Feinberg.
“Given our significant financial challenges, we are unfortunately no longer able to provide this service to the limited number of people who serve it sporadically, and the even smaller population that they serve regularly.”
An estimated 11,000 commuters rode the subways between 1 a.m. and 5 p.m., before Cuomo announced the nightly closures in an effort to clean trains and clear them of homelessness.
As part of the closing of the locks, commuters proving their “essential employee” status could sign up to receive one free car ride per night, depending on the length of their trip.
The MTA – which is facing a $ 10 billion deficit as a result of the coronavirus crisis – is raising more than $ 6 million for the program, at an average cost of $ 49 per ride, officials said.
Feinberg said affected commuters could instead opt for one of three new bus routes between cities – two connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, and a third connecting Manhattan with the Bronx.
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