Metro riders should plan to pay more for their rail and bus trips come July, as the transit agency is forecasting a $124 million shortfall in its proposed budget for next year, according to an agency report. The transit agency’s current policy calls for fare increases every two years, even without a budget gap. That means that, after fare increases in July 2010, another round is due.
Riders already are wincing, still getting used to the last hikes, which added surcharges for “peak of the peak” trips and paper farecards on top of hefty increases that raised even the lowest rush-hour Metrorail fares by 11 percent.
| Past Metrorail fare hikes | ||
| Minimum Metrorail fare during the morning rush after fare hikes, following years of costing $1.10 per one-way trip: | ||
| Fiscal Year | ||
| 2002-2003: | $1.20 | |
| 2003-2004: | $1.35 | |
| 2007-2008: | $1.65 | |
| 2009-2010: | $1.75* | |
| 2010-2011: | $1.95** | |
| * 10-cent surcharge added in the final four months of the year | ||
| ** Without 20-cent “peak of peak” surcharge and without the 25-cent surcharge for paper farecards | ||
“I would certainly hope that the magnitude of fare hikes we had then would be a one-time thing,” said Ben Ross, a transit advocate who has led the Transit First coalition. “The local governments have to step up to the plate again.”
Metro’s policy calls for fare increases tied to the consumer price index every two years, which amounts to an approximately 5.7 percent increase for the next budget, according to Metro. That would translate to roughly 10-cent increases. But more could be necessary, Ross said, as that probably would not cover the whole gap.
In June 2010, for example, Metro’s board approved the biggest fare hikes in its history to help cover an estimated $109 million of a budget gap, less than the current projected shortfall.
A fare increase could be even more painful if Congress doesn’t extend the federal transit benefits that are slated to fall back from $230 per month to $125 per month starting Jan. 1. Some 270,000 Metro riders use the benefits in some way, either getting free rides through their employers — such as the federal government — or avoiding taxes on them.
But increases may not come as across-the-board hikes. The agency is considering a change to its complicated fare structure, which has some 44,000 combinations. It is considering a “visitor zone” instead of an all-day rail pass for tourists and other changes, according to a report to be presented to the board Thursday.
