Metro Plans Fare Increase for Bus, Rail

Increase would include rail, bus and parking fares

WMATA riders both on rail and bus may have to start paying more for their rides starting next year.

Officials discuss fare increases every two years to keep up with inflation. The following fare increases could begin in July 2014:

  • Metro bus: 0.15 cents (currently $1.75)
  • Metro rail: 0.10 cents (increasing by 3 percent)
  • Parking: .25 cents

With new high-speed elevators, improved escalators and more trains, WMATA General Manager Richard Sarles said the increase would help keep up the system's momentum, raising an additional $30 million in Fiscal Year 2015.

"There's been an increase in on-time performace on both bus and rail. We have less outages, there are more cars available," Sarles said. "There are improvements ... People are seeing improvements every day."

Sarles and WMATA said they are aware riders are sensitive to increases and could altogether stop using Metro.

The system's ridership is down about 20 percent since the government shutdown started 10 days ago. It is estimated Metro loses hundreds of thousands of dollars each day in the shutdown, meaning so far, they have lost millions.

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