Some 1 Train Riders Are Getting Charged To Ride Twice Due To Snafu Involving Ongoing Track Work
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Double the inconvenience and double the fare.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority subway riders on the 1 train said they are being charged twice when the agency forces them to take a shuttle bus between stops due to ongoing track work.
CBS2's Lisa Rozner witnessed one subway passenger trying to get through one of the subway stop gates, hoping someone would open the door. She was not trying to evade the fare. She just wanted to continue the trip she had already paid for.
"This is every weekend. It's horrible," the straphanger said.
Due to track maintenance on weekends passengers who ride the 1 train are being inconvenienced.
For instance, those riding downtown must exit the station at 137th Street and get on a free shuttle bus which drops them off at the 96th Street station where they go back underground. The problem is ...
"Now we gotta pay here again," one person said.
"I just paid $2.75 to get on the train to get on a bus to get off the train and to have to pay again. I don't think that's right at all," said Ken Dorsey of Washington Heights.
"[It's] very upsetting actually because you guys are messing up the trains and then you want us to keep paying for it," Brooklyn resident Patricia Newsome added. "And we're paying for it in two different ways, with our money and our time. It's aggravating."
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At the 96th Street station, Rozner saw shuttle bus after shuttle bus drop off passengers at more than one entrance.
At the 93rd Street entrance there are no signs and no station personnel. In fact, the station agent booth is closed, so customers rushing to catch a train have only one option and that is to pay.
"That's outrageous. That's really unfair," Upper West Side resident Susan Greenfield said.
When Rozner went to the station agent at the main entrance on 96th Street he told her riders should be getting a pass when they get off the bus, and he would let them through a gate.
But why then is the shuttle bus taking them to the entrance on 93rd Street? There's no one there telling them that.
"Oh, I have no idea about that," the station agent said.
A shuttle bus is also provided for 1 train passengers headed uptown. At the 137th Street station, there were no people or signs letting riders know there is an open gate for riders to use.
"There's nobody here to direct us. That's the problem," Bronx resident Arturo Ramos said.
An MTA spokesperson said the agency is looking into the issue and apologizes for the inconvenience. She added customers should not be paying an additional fare. Instead, riders should see station personnel to get a courtesy pass. To find out about requesting a refund, please click here.
