Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority officials caught the riding public off-guard in November when they proposed fare increases to raise money for Metro’s operating budget.

New Metro General Manager John Catoe has since silenced talk of any fare hikes this year but knows increases are on the horizon. To avoid giving riders any more nasty surprises, Catoe wants to come up a set formula for determining when fares will increase and by how much. He plans to start work on determining such a schedule in a few months. Metro has not increased fares since 2003.

“I plan to begin a discussion of fare policy in the fall of this year,” Catoe said last week during a District of Columbia City Council hearing on Metro’s budget. “WMATA would like to consider linking fares to cost-of-living measures, such as the consumer price index.”

The fare-increase proposal unveiled in November drew criticism because it was complicated and would have imposed an additional surcharge on passengers riding trains into the busiest areas of the system during rush hours.

This story continues below
Advertisement

“With such a system, fares would rise at regular intervals instead of big jumps every few years,” Catoe said of his idea. “Furthermore, linking fares to an economic index makes fare increases transparent, predictable and easily understandable.”

D.C. Council Member Jim Graham said he has opposed fare increases in the part because he does not think Metro has streamlined its budget enough to justify asking the public to pay more to use the system. Catoe has already announced plans to eliminate 220 administrative positions, but Graham wants Metro to look for additional efficiencies.

“I have to be convinced Metro is doing everything it can,” Graham said. “I have not been convinced that Metro has aggressively studied the ways it can reduce its costs before seeking fare increases.”

But Jennifer Hewlett, a Maryland representative who recently became the board of directors chairwoman, supports “a new fare policy that sets expectations for our current and future riders in terms of pricing.” The policy, she said, must be “rational and comprehensive.”

jrogalsky@dcexaminer.com