Metra reminded its customers that a fare increase goes into effect Feb. 1. The Metra Board of Directors in November approved an increase across all fare types to generate $16.1 million to fund the agency’s extensive backlog of capital needs.
“We understand raising fares will affect our riders, but this increase will be strictly allocated as an investment in our trains and our system,” said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno. “Metra is committed to improving the quality of service and creating a better passenger experience, while addressing a serious capital funding shortfall.”
The fare increases include:
- One-Way Tickets: Customers will pay 25 cents more per ticket, or 2.4 percent to 7.1 percent more depending on the Metra zone. If these customers take the train 30 times a year, they will pay an additional $7.50 annually to ride Metra.
- 10-Ride Tickets: Customers will pay $2.75 more per ticket, or 2.9 percent to 8.9 percent more. That works out to an additional 27.5 cents per trip.
- Monthly Passes: Customers will pay $11.75 more per month, or 4 percent to 12.3 percent more. That works out to about 27 cents more per trip and $141 more annually to ride Metra.
- Reduced-Fare Tickets: Customers eligible for reduced fare tickets will pay an additional 25 cents for a One-Way Ticket, an additional $1.50 for a 10-Ride Ticket and an additional $7.50 for a Monthly Pass.
The fare increase is expected to generate an additional $16.1 million in revenue, 100 percent of which will be used to fund capital improvement projects. Metra has an extensive backlog of capital projects and needs $11.7 billion over the next decade, or $1.2 billion annually, just to address this backlog and achieve and maintain its assets in a state of good repair. Yet, in each of the next four years, Metra projects that it will have less than $300 million annually available to spend on capital projects, about $900 million less than the agency needs to spend each year.
