Metro proposes 11.1% fare increase for rail, bus and MetroAccess
by Brad Matthews · The Washington TimesMetro is considering raising fares for rail, bus and MetroAccess for the first time since 2024 due to inflation.
The regional transit agency is proposing an 11.1% “inflation-based increase” for fares starting in fiscal 2028, which begins July 1. The proposal is in a document prepared for Thursday’s Metro board meeting.
The fare increase would generate $40 million to $45 million more in revenue and lead to 8 million fewer trips by riders, Metro says in the document.
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Metro has not increased fares since July 2024, when fares for buses, trains and MetroAccess vehicles went up by 12.5%, according to the document.
Current rail fares run from $2.25 to $6.75 on weekdays and from $2.25 to $2.50 after 9:30 p.m. on weeknights and all day on weekends. The regular bus fare is $2.25, and the express bus fare is $4.80. The MetroAccess fare is $4.50.
An 11.1% increase would raise the regular rail fares to $2.50 to $7.50, Metro said. The agency did not say what the new bus fare would be, but an across-the-board increase would raise the fare to about $2.50.
Metro is also considering simplifying its parking prices at Park and Ride lots adjacent to Metrorail stations. Under the proposal, parking would cost $3 at 23 low-usage lots, $5 at 14 medium-usage lots and $7 at three high-usage lots.
Metro defines low-usage lots as having 50% or less occupancy of spaces on an average weekday, medium-usage lots as having 51-90% occupancy and high-usage lots as having 91% or greater occupancy.
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The changes would amount to a 5-cent increase in parking at the Capitol Heights, Downtown Largo, Huntington, Minnesota Avenue, Morgan Boulevard, New Carrollton, Rhode Island Avenue, Van Dorn Street, Vienna and West Hyattsville stations.
The biggest increases include parking lots at East Falls Church, Forest Glen and Fort Totten, each of which would charge $7 under the new proposal; and West Falls Church, where the price would rise from $3 to $5.
Every other station would charge less for parking, with decreases ranging from 20 cents to as much as $2.20 at North Bethesda, Shady Grove and Twinbrook, which would all drop from their current $5.20 parking fee to $3.
Customers who park at the lots but do not use Metrorail would incur a $3 to $5 fee increase, the transit agency said.
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