Senate Bill S8620

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8620
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             December 17, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT enacting the one city, one fare act
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section  1.  Short  title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 the "one city, one fare act".
   § 2. Legislative findings and statement of  purpose.  The  legislature
 finds, determines and declares that:
   (a)  The MTA's three transit operating agencies, New York City Transit
 ("NYCT"), the Long Island Rail Road ("LIRR"), and Metro-North,  converge
 in  New  York  City,  in particular at Grand Central Terminal, but fares
 vary within city limits across the different modes of travel.
   (b) Many parts of New York City that are in need of enhanced access to
 the subway, such as Southeast Queens and  the  East  Bronx,  are  served
 by--or  will  be served by--the LIRR or Metro-North. However, high fares
 on these services and a lack of joint railroad-NYCT ticket options  make
 intracity  railroad travel prohibitively expensive. Taking the LIRR from
 Rosedale to Atlantic Terminal takes a third of  the  time  (36  minutes,
 versus  1  hour,  32  minutes)  but costs more than twice as much ($7.25
 versus $3). A daily peak round-trip ticket between Kew Gardens and Ford-
 ham consists of either two City Tickets or a one-way ticket and a  Combo
 Ticket  add-on,  costing $29 with no weekly or monthly option available,
 nearly ten times as expensive as the subway.
   (c) The MTA has already implemented a single CityTicket fare zone  for
 railroad  tickets,  but  only for one railroad or the other. This option
 has made New York City's railroad stations some of the only stations  to
 surpass  pre-COVID  ridership,  some  by  as much as 224%, and saved New
 Yorkers over $100 million according to Governor Hochul.  This  is  clear
 evidence  of latent demand for enhanced intracity commuter rail options.
 Unfortunately, the MTA has not  expanded  CityTicket  despite  continued
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14187-02-5
              

 S. 8620                             2
 
 calls  from  elected officials, advocates and communities throughout the
 city.
   (d)  The  MTA  has  further  declined  to  restore joint railroad-NYCT
 options such as the Atlantic Ticket, which offered a weekly LIRR  ticket
 between  Southeast  Queens  and  Atlantic  Terminal  along with a weekly
 unlimited subway pass for $60 until 2023.
   (e) The legislature has repeatedly affirmed the necessity of providing
 fare incentives to transit riders in the  FY2025  and  FY2026  One-House
 Budget Resolutions and has acted previously to correct unrealized oppor-
 tunities  at  the  authority,  such  as  the 2022 bicycle and pedestrian
 access bill (S4943B/A6235B).
   (f) A public policy purpose would be served and the interests  of  the
 people  of  the state, in particular parts of The Bronx and Queens where
 the subway does not reach, would be advanced by directing the  Metropol-
 itan  Transportation Authority to develop and implement a field study of
 a single, unified fare zone across New York City's railroads.    Such  a
 field  study  would broaden the MTA's customer base in areas unserved by
 the subway, ensuring equitable access to affordable  transit  for  resi-
 dents of subway deserts.
   §  3.  The  Metropolitan Transportation Authority is hereby authorized
 and directed to conduct a study on a  unified,  single  city  fare  zone
 across  the  Long  Island  Rail  Road  and Metro-North for all intracity
 commuter rail options with free transfers  to  New  York  City  Transit.
 Such  study shall last no less than two years.  Following implementation
 of such study, the Metropolitan Transportation  Authority  shall  report
 the findings to the governor and the legislature.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.