LI pol rips MTA’s fare hike ‘cash grab’ after forcing commuters onto trains with congestion pricing

A Long Island Congresswoman is blasting the MTA’s proposed 2026 fare hikes on Long Island Rail Road commuters as a blatant “cash grab” after the agency pushed drivers off the roads and into trains with costly congestion pricing tolls.

Democratic Rep. Laura Gillen torched the MTA Thursday night in a scathing letter sent to CEO Janno Lieber, exclusively obtained by The Post — accusing the agency of “double-taxing” Long Islanders by piling new LIRR fare hikes onto commuters who are no longer driving into the city because of congestion pricing tolls.

“First, [the MTA] hit commuters with congestion pricing, supposedly to incentivize LIRR use — now it’s punishing those riders with fare hikes, all while failing to improve service and trains,” Gillen told The Post about why sent her letter.

The proposed hikes would raise weekly and monthly LIRR fares by about 4.5%, with other tickets climbing as much as 8%. And for the first time, ticket validity would be slashed from 60 days to just four hours after purchase, according to the MTA’s proposal.

Round-trip tickets would also be scrapped in favor of a new “Day Pass,” and riders who wait to buy or activate their mobile tickets until a conductor’s inspection would be slapped with a $2 penalty.

“The MTA is once again seeking to drain hardworking commuters’ pockets to pay for its own mismanagement,” Gillen said. 

“The hypocrisy of the MTA raising prices on LIRR — all while continuing their congestion pricing cash grab.”

Gillen noted that hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders depend on the LIRR daily for work, school, and more, and are already stretched thin by record housing, grocery, and utility costs. 

“Forcing commuters to pay 4.5% to 8% more for train tickets, combined with the MTA’s unfair congestion tax, is completely misguided and would make the cost-of-living crisis on Long Island even worse,” her letter read. 

The MTA did not respond to a request for comment in response to Rep. Gillen’s letter — but officials previously defended the proposed hikes as “generous.” 

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“I would not call this a hike,” MTA board member Neal Zuckerman said at a board meeting in late July. 

Lieber also previously defended the planned increases and argued the MTA’s desire to scoop up more cash wouldn’t affect affordability for New Yorkers.

“We have to remember what really is driving affordability issues in New York and it’s not transit,” he said during a press conference last month. “Transit is one of the few things that makes New York affordable and we’re keeping it that way.”

But riders seem to disagree — with some flat-out calling the changes “stupid.” 

“Getting rid of the round trip ticket for an ‘all-day’ pass makes absolutely no sense. Who is riding back and forth to the city that many times a day,” said Jeremy Burd, a lighting designer who commutes to Manhattan from Ronkonkoma frequently for work. 

Others agreed it was an obvious “cash grab” by the MTA.

“If they’re making all this money from congestion pricing — and I agree with congestion pricing for a number of reasons — but where is all that money going,” asked Jennifer Martinez, a Long Island resident whose grandkids live in Queens.

And Nassau officials, including Rep. Gillen, seem to agree — with Nassau Executive Bruce Blakeman and County Comptroller Elaine Phillips having called for a full audit of the MTA multiple times throughout the year.