Metro Weighs Fare Increase of 45 Cents

"We are now at a point where we must cut service [or] raise our fares," he said. "WE WILL NOT RECOMMEND OVERALL CUTS TO SERVICE," he wrote in capital letters. "I have said before that we are in the business of delivering service, so we must seriously consider fare increases."

Catoe also said that there are "no firm numbers available yet," and he told riders that "anything you read about potential fare increases is speculation."

Maryland board member Peter Benjamin said the outlook for next year is going to result in "tough medicine, no matter what we do. But typically, we start with a higher number and end up with a lower number."

Other major transit agencies, including those in Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, have recently raised fares. The price of a rush-hour subway ride in Boston went from $1.25 to $2 in January, and the cost of a bus ride rose from 90 cents to $1.50.

Unlike other transit systems across the country, Metro has no source of dedicated funding. The agency relies on the federal government and subsidies from area jurisdictions to help pay a large share of its capital costs, and area jurisdictions and riders pay for most day-to-day operating costs.

Metro passengers pay a higher share of the cost of a ride than do transit riders in other cities. Metro said its bus and rail passengers pay 58 percent of the cost of their rides; the national average in 2005 was 33 percent, according to the Federal Transit Administration. When just Metro's rail system is considered, that figure rises to 79 percent, one of the highest in the nation.

Revenue from passengers has increased in recent years as the system has set ridership records, but the extra money has not offset rising costs.

In the past, fare increases have taken effect in July. But should the board decide to raise fares, Catoe told local transportation officials Thursday night that he would like those increases to be in place sooner, "as early as possible in calendar '08," so Metro would have sufficient funds going into the next fiscal year.

Catoe also plans to begin discussing a comprehensive policy that would peg fares to an economic indicator that reflects transportation costs, which are typically double the consumer price index. That way, there would be regularly scheduled increases that riders could expect, and it wouldn't be "an enormous tear-your-heart-out issue, should we have a fare increase," Benjamin said.

Catoe and board members said no discussion of fares can take place without addressing the underlying issue: service.

Randy Tamakloe, 25, who takes the heavily used Red and Orange lines from Twinbrook to Court House, said he could live with paying more if service were more reliable. "The trains are always breaking down," he said as he waited to board an Orange Line train at Metro Center yesterday.

Two weeks ago, smoke and fire incidents crippled train travel throughout much of the system for two nights, closing 11 of the 86 stations at one point. In June, a faulty piece of track circuitry knocked out power on the Green Line during the morning rush.

In his chat yesterday, Catoe said that Metro needs to do a better job.

"One thing that I want to stress is that whatever the increase is, you won't be paying more for the same quality of service," he said.

In the briefing for board members, Metro officials said the $173 million funding forecast breaks down like this: $52 million is needed for one-time actions taken this year, $80 million to keep the system running and $41 million for "everything from aging and deteriorating assets to service expansion and overcrowding relief."

A separate briefing was also presented Thursday to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.

The 45 cent fare increase is "one scenario," said Metro board member T. Dana Kauffman, a Fairfax County supervisor who represents Virginia on the Metro board. "This was not presented as holy writ."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.