March 25 (Bloomberg) -- A single ride on New York City buses and subways will rise 50 cents to $2.50 on May 31 under a “doomsday” budget plan approved by the state Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board today.

The average cost of a trip on the authority’s bridges, trains, buses and tunnels will increase as much as 30 percent by July 11 under the plan, which also includes layoffs and service reductions to fill a budget deficit projected to swell to more than $1.2 billion.

The price of a monthly bus and subway pass, or MetroCard, will rise to $103 from $81. A weekly MetroCard will increase to $31 from $25, a 14-day card to $59 from $47 and a one-day pass to $9.50 from $7.50.

State legislators in Albany have failed to act on a plan developed by a panel headed by the authority’s former chairman, Richard Ravitch, imposing tolls on free East River and Harlem River bridges and creating a new corporate payroll tax to fill the budget gap and limit the fare increase to 8 percent.

“The fare increases and service cuts are the only major tools that Albany has given the board to operate the transit system and keep it in the black,” MTA Executive Director Elliot “Lee” Sander told the board, calling the budget a “doomsday” plan. “There are no other moves in the board’s playbook.”

First Since 2003

The authority, the largest U.S. public transportation agency, operates New York City Transit, the Long Island and Metro-North commuter railroads, seven bridges and two tunnels. The agency last raised fares and tolls, by 4 percent, in March 2008, while keeping the cost of a single bus and subway ride at $2. The fare has been $2 since May 2003, when it was increased from $1.50.

The board voted 12-1 in five separate tallies to approve the plan, with member Norman Seabrook, the president of the union that represents New York City corrections officers, casting the only votes against it.

“I am not going to go along to get along,” said Seabrook, who was appointed to the MTA board by former Governor George Pataki in December 2006. “We must not pass this at this point. We must force the envelope to the edge of the table and let those responsible in Albany do their job.”

Governor David Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, both Democrats, said they will continue to work with the Legislature to reach an agreement on a rescue plan for the authority. Silver’s proposed alternative -- which would have also limited the fare and toll raise to 8 percent -- was rejected by the Democratic majority in the state Senate.

‘Crisis Is Real’

“The Assembly is prepared to reverse today’s decision by the MTA and prevent massive fare hikes and service cuts from going into effect,” Silver said in a statement. “I had hoped the Senate would support our plan. Today’s vote should underscore to everyone in Albany that this crisis is real and that the failure to act would be an unmitigated disaster.”

New York City commuters pay the highest proportion of operating expenses in the country, covering 52 percent of the costs of running the buses and subways combined, said Gene Russianoff, an attorney with the New York Public Interest Research Group’s Straphangers Campaign.

With the fare increase, the share of the subway operating expenses paid by riders will rise to 83 percent from 59 percent, Russianoff said.

Fares for the Long Island and Metro-North railroads -- the two busiest U.S. commuter train lines -- will go up on June 1, with the average ticket price increasing 24 percent to 29 percent.

Bridge Tolls

Bridge tolls will go up on July 11. The cost of major crossings, such as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge and Brooklyn- Battery Tunnel, will rise to $6.50 from $5 for drivers paying cash and to $5.26 from $4.15 for motorists using E-ZPass tags.

The cost of minor crossings, such as the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, will increase to $3.25 from $2.50 in cash and to $1.96 from $1.55 with E-ZPass.

About 1,100 of the authority’s 70,000 employees will be laid off, and service cuts will be implemented -- including the elimination of the W and Z trains and the closing or reduction in hours of 42 subway station booths.

The cuts will eliminate or reduce service on five subway lines, get rid of 20 bus routes and hundreds of station agents, and lead to longer waits and more crowding, said Russianoff, who called on Paterson to work with state lawmakers on a solution.

“It’s still not too late for Albany to come to the rescue,” Russianoff told the board. “These devastating fare increases and service cuts cannot stand and must not stand, and this cannot be the end of the story.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 25, 2009 16:18 EDT