Metro lowered the rail fare on weekends, extended weekend operating hours and made rail-to-bus transfers free.
A number of Metro service and fee changes went into effect Sunday, in an effort to bring back riders who stopped using the system during the pandemic.
“As the region goes back to work and school, we will be ready with service that is convenient any time of the day and offers the flexibility riders need,” Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in a statement.
Here are a few highlights from the changes:
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- On weekends, a Metrorail trip will be $2 each way, instead of charging according to how far you go.
- If you ride Metrorail and then a bus, the bus ride will now be free, with the exception of Express service.
- Customers can expect to wait no more than six minutes for a Metrorail train on weekdays until 9:30 p.m. at “any station served by multiple lines and on the Red Line.” After 9:30, expect to wait no more than eight minutes at any station served by multiple lines, and 10 minutes on the Red Line.
- Metro will be open until 1 a.m. instead of midnight on Friday and Saturday, and 7 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. on Sunday.
With these service improvements, bus and rail service is running at “near pre-pandemic levels,” Metro said in their statement, at 97% of pre-COVID-19 service levels on Metrobus and 91% on Metrorail.
“On some bus routes, and off-peak on rail, service will be even better than it had been before the pandemic,” the transit agency said.
