CityTicket, the program that provides a discounted fare for weekend riders who travel within New York City on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro North (MNR) will continue to run as a pilot program in 2005 despite increasing ridership trends. After pressure from transit advocates, the MTA implemented the program in January of 2004, at which point it said the program would become permanent if successful (MTR 442) ( MTR 451). However, now the MTA says it will not to make the program permanent yet, apparently due to the financial cost of implementation.

CityTicket offers areas that are not well served by New York City Transit an affordable opportunity to travel to their city destinations, especially locations in suburban Queens and the Bronx. The fee for a single ride ticket was $2.50 and has increased to $3.00 due to the recent fare hike, but can still save riders $2-$3 per ride. LIRR has another discount fare of $2.50 for travel within Queens; MNR has a discount fare of $2.25 for fares within the Bronx.

According to the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA research in 2004, overall MNR Cityticket purchases fell during the summer and peaked in the fall, while the LIRR numbers grew each season. Simultaneously the total CityTicket market share, the percentage of all tickets sold that are CityTickets, went up in each period. The increase shows more riders were conscious of the program, and bodes well for the future of the program, especially if available during the week.

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