By JAMES FORD wpix.com

8:52 a.m. EDT, October 6, 2010
NEW YORK (WPIX)—
If you're among the 5.1 million people who ride the subway or take a bus every day in New York City, get ready to pay a lot more to get where you need to go.

In an effort to reduce a deep budget deficit, the MTA board is expected to raise fares at its meeting Thursday morning, and while the fare increase will be highest for monthly Metrocard users, it will apply to every type of Metrocard.

The monthly pass that is currently priced at $89 is expected to break the $100 barrier. It will go up to $104, a 17% increase. Also, the bonus that usually comes along with the monthly Metrocard purchase will be slashed by more than half, from 15% to 7%.

Since announcing over the summer that a fare increase was needed, the MTA board has held a series of public hearings on the issue, where hundreds of people told MTA Chairman Jay Walder that they could not afford the increase, particularly in the wake of cuts in bus and subway service the transportation authority implemented earlier this year. Despite that, the fare hikes are by all accounts going forward, and they are happening across the board.

In addition to the $15 hike for monthly Metrocards, the weekly pass goes up $2, to $29. Also, straphangers will pay 25 cents more for a single ride, which rises from $2.25 to $2.50.

The MTA has reported an $800 million budget shortfall for 2010, an amount the fare increase is expected to help pay for. However, the transportation agency anticipates another budget deficit for 2011 in spite of the fare hike.

To save even more money, the MTA is discontinuing its unlimited one-day pass and unlimited 14-day pass.

If the proposed increase is approved, it would go into effect in January.