Politics & Government

Metro Fare Increase Begins Monday

An additional cost will be added to peak of peak hours.

As of Monday, the ride home from work might put a little more stress on communters' wallets - by two dimes.

The second phase of the Metrorail increases will begin Aug. 2, this time affecting travel during peak-of-the-peak hours. Initally, the transit agency announced a 20-cent fare increase for both peak of peak hours on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., however, due to programming limitations for the system's current technology, it cannot be implemented.

Instead, Metrorail will increase fares only for the evening rush hour and wait to implement the morning rush hour fare hike until the end of August.

Find out what's happening in Riverdale Park-University Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Commuters will also have to pay for three Metrorail passes, and there will also be a 25-cent increase for customers who use paper fare cards instead of the SmarTrip card.

The new fee will be based around the staring time of the trip, or when a customer enters the fare gate at Metro station.

Find out what's happening in Riverdale Park-University Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Yet, some Metro customers will get a break. Commuters who sign up to use the SmarTrip card will receive a savings of $2.50, as the cards were originally $5 to purchase. This is the first reduction in the SmarTrip card's price since it was available in 1999.

Metrorail passes will increase on Aug. 2 as follows: the weekly short-trip pass will cost $32.35, the weekly "fast" pass will be $47 and the Transit Link Card for MARC and VRE riders will be $102.


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