The 1,000,000 People Against the NYC MTA Fare Hike Facebook group started with a mere 1,000 members just a week ago, but has already risen to nearly 60,000 angry MTA riders in just a few days.
Its co-creators, 32-year-old Mellisa Pegus and 39-year old teacher Lisa Wildenberger, are encouraging their members to spread the word to both friends and politicians -- namely Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., Senator Carl Kruger and Senator Ruben Diaz.
“We both read all the (service cuts) and got really pissed off,” Pegus said to Urbanite.
One group member is even calling for a city-wide MTA boycott, to take place today, "to show in statistics just how much of a drop in daily income the MTA will lose by raising the fares in May." However, group members are split over that one, recommending other tactics in the comments that range from "jump the turnstyles" to "not buying metro cards" or "losing" their monthly cards and asking for full reimbursement.
The group's co-founders, however, ask that people maintain their patience. "Let our numbers grow and we will set a date," they write. "So stay tuned." For now, they just want to keep those numbers rising for their chance to knock the MTA fees down. Other group founders include: Bill Hughes, Amird Darvish and Noam Tidha.
To be fair to the MTA we have to make mention that this problem is more than MTA related. There are State Senators and other quarreling government representatives who both know little about the system they're 'supporting' and even less on how to finance it involved in the mix. Using the MTA services myself I think that we should not only let the MTA know about our displeasure but write, call and petition our state and local representatives to put the necessary pressure on Albany to get a deal through that appeases all sides. So what are your thoughts?
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