As required by the Transportation Infrastructure Investment Act of 2013, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) on May 26 announced that transit fares will increase on June 25. The legislatively mandated increase will occur prior to the July 1, deadline for implementing the new fares adjusted for inflation, as required by the General Assembly.
The fare increase was mandated by the passage of the 2013 law and requires MTA to adjust fares for core services, which includes local bus, light rail, metro subway and mobility/Paratransit, every two years and for commuter bus and MARC Train every five years. As outlined in the law, the increase in core service fares is based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) during the past two years, rounded to the nearest dime. Fares for commuter bus and MARC Train will increase by the rise in the CPI during the last five years, rounded to the nearest dollar.
The current $1.60 base fare for local bus, light rail and metro subway services will increase by 10 cents to $1.70. Other bus fares will increase including: school tickets by 10 cents and Mobility/Paratransit fares by five cents. MARC Train fares will increase by $1 while commuter bus fares will increase from 25 cents to $1.25 depending on the distance people travel. The new multi-use fares also will increase using the new base fare for the calculation.
