By STEPHANIE BARISH wpix.com

3:56 p.m. EDT, July 28, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
A series of public hearings regarding the MTA's proposed far hikes are slated to take place in September.

The transit agency reportedly approved the hearings with a unanimous vote at its meeting Wednesday, where officials announced steep fare hike proposals to close its massive budget deficit.

The board voted to eliminate 202 station agents and will instead rely on intercoms on station platforms and some turnstiles where the agents have been eliminated.

The new intercoms will reportedly be equipped with cameras and have separate buttons for information requests and emergencies.

In addition, officials are apparently mulling over the idea of raising prices by 2011 on unlimited MetroCards from $89 to $104, or to cap the number of rides at 90 per month and increase the price to $99.

The transit agency needs to come up with about $413 million in order to close its budget deficit. The fare hike is scheduled to take place in January and is focusing on riders who buy unlimited cards because they tend to have more money. A study conducted by the agency, reportedly found that the average monthly card user makes $60,000 a year, while pay-per ride straphangers made about $33,000 annually.

The MTA is also considering getting rid of unlimited daily and 14-day passes, reducing the bonuses on pay-per-ride cards by an undislcosed amount, and asking riders to pay $1 when they get a new pay-per-ride pass instead of refilling the card.

The board is slated to vote on the proposals in November.

Many union employees, a majority of whom came from TWU Local 100, showed up to protest the fare hikes and layoffs.

Nearly 100 workers outside chanted "lay off Walder!" referring to MTA CEO Jay Walder.