The MTA takes up to three months to replace half-fare MetroCards for senior citizens and disabled transit riders, placing additional burdens on thousands of straphangers, the Daily News has learned.
Staff reductions enacted more than a year ago have led to the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s backlog of applications for lost or stolen reduced-fare passes.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer last week fired off a letter to MTA brass urging them to issue temporary MetroCards to riders waiting for replacements to relieve them of the “emotional, physical and financial toll on New Yorkers who have a right to expect better service.”
Stringer and some affected riders Sunday will make a public appeal to the MTA to fast-track the request.
The specialized travel passes have the rider’s name and photograph. They are issued after the MTA verifies information on applications and cannot be bought at token booths or MetroCard vending machines.
Ellen Reiss, 77, of Manhattan, said she waited at least six weeks for a new MetroCard after losing hers this year. During that time, she had to show identification to a token booth clerk, who would issue a paper ticket to be shown to a different clerk on her return trip.
But finding a clerk isn’t always easy because the MTA laid off hundreds and closed many booths, she said.
“I went in and out, and up and down,” she said, recalling one trek in the subway. “You don’t know where there’s going to be a token booth person since they got rid of so many people. It’s exhausting.”
The Daily News in March reported how one senior citizen, frustrated by waiting months for a replacement card, slipped through an exit-only gate, risking arrest, because he was so frustrated.
The MTA recently hired additional staff to tackle the backlog, MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said. NYC Transit’s customer relations department receives an average of 35,000 MetroCard claims a month, with about 8,000 of them for reduced-fare cards, he said.
“Offering a temporary card would only add another level of production and prolong the time it takes to replace a card, and require additional staff,” he said.
pdonohue@nydailynews.com
