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Metro Needs Cash, May Hike Fares

  • January 10th 2012

by Shilpi Paul

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Metro Needs Cash, May Hike Fares: Figure 1

Metro has proposed a significant increase in bus and rail fare prices to make up for a $116 million deficit, The Washington Post has reported.

If the hikes go through, paper farecard users will see a dramatic increase in cost per trip: under the new plan, a one-way trip during peak hours will cost a paper farecard user $6, no matter the distance. During off-peak hours, the trip would cost $4. Day passes will no longer exists. (This move and the increase of fares for paper farecard users seem pretty inhospitable for DC tourists.)

SmartTrip fares wouldn’t change too much: the maximum peak fare for a SmartTrip care would change from $5 to $5.75 and the minimum off-peak fare from $1.60 to $1.70. Daily commuters would spend at most about $360 more under the new system. Bus fares, parking fees and MetroAccess fares will be bumped up slightly.

Metro’s board will review the proposal on Thursday, public hearings will be held in February and March, and if they occur, most changes would go into effect on July 1st (except the Farecard change, which would go into effect after Labor Day to allow Metro to beef up their SmartTrip system).

See other articles related to: metro

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/metro_needs_cash_may_hike_up_fares/4892.

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