Bus Drivers and Subway Workers join fight for Free Student MetroCard

New York City bus drivers and subway workers joined the protest against removal of free student Metro Cards.

Members of the Transport Workers Union have filed a petition asking the state education department to increase its funding of $45 million for the free MetroCards for school going kids program. Currently the scheme is to be phased out by September next year.

Union president John Samuelsen said that the New York City had a responsibility towards ensuring that all the kids had a means of getting the means to go to school.

Metropolitan Transport Authority has paid the bills for almost 580,000 children’s free 3 tickets for every school day for quite a few years now. However, the state’s has reduced its funding for the program from $45 million to $6 million last year. MTA is struggling with its own budget crunch and officials for the MTA state that it can no longer afford to pay $214 million for the free tickets anymore. The Transport Workers Union is interested in this as the members of the union also have kids in public schools and may have trouble in paying the commuting costs.

Marc La Vorgana who is a spokesperson for Mayor Bloomberg said that the Mayor was opposed to cutting the student MetroCard program. He further said that the city had been doing its best so that the program stayed in place.

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One Response to “Bus Drivers and Subway Workers join fight for Free Student MetroCard”

1. ParentJobNet says:

   March 18, 2010 at 10:56 am

   The city and state gov’t have to take some responsibility for this. The long-term ramifications of the student MetroCard cuts could be disastrous.