The increased fare beginning March 1 will reduce the off-peak discount on the L.I.R.R. to 27.5percentt.
"There is no way of doing it in a manual operation," he said of an off-peak discount.
But riders who buy the popular unlimited weekly or monthly passes would pay as much as 8percentt more and would not gain from the off-peak discount.
IF your tastes run toward pampering spa surroundings, but your budget doesn't, there are other ways to economize besides taking time off midweek to snare an off-peak discount.
MORE INFORMATION IF your tastes run toward pampering spa surroundings, but your budget doesn't, there are other ways to economize besides taking time off midweek to snare an off-peak discount.
The off-peak discount on the Long Island Rail Road, for instance, would become smaller than it is now, meaning that riders would have to pay more to travel into the city on weekends, afternoons and late nights.
Mr. Russianoff said that the authority deserved credit for trying to come up with an innovative formula for fares through the off-peak discount, but that the discount raised a host of questions about how it would work and who would use it.
And the off-peak discount to $5 for truckers with E-ZPass was not much of a benefit, she said, considering that it would raise the toll to $25 for most of the five-axle trucks from the current $20 per crossing.
The other called for a more traditional set of increases, raising the base bus and subway fare to $2.25 from $2. The off-peak discount proposal, which if approved would take effect early next year, also calls for a $2.25 base fare.
The Star-Ledger of Newark reported yesterday that the agency was considering an off-peak discount for drivers who pay cash, charging them $6 instead of the proposed $7. Another alternative under consideration, it said, was to enhance the 10-trip advance purchase discount for PATH tickets to provide the equivalent of an 11th ride free.
But the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge, attributed most of that shift to an off-peak discount that it started offering five years ago to drivers who pay tolls with E-ZPass.
