Metra riders rush to buy passes before 25 percent fare hike
BY KIM JANSSEN kjanssen@suntimes.com January 31, 2012 8:30PM
Commuters rush to buy Metra passes before fares rise sharply Wednesday, but they can get passes to carry them only through February: Lower-fare 10-ride passes won’t be accepted after Feb. 29. Tuesday, January 31, 2012 | Brian Jackson~Sun-Times
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Updated: April 1, 2012 1:15AM
CHICAGO — Irritated commuters rushed Tuesday to buy Metra tickets before fare hikes averaging 25 percent go into effect today, Feb. 1.
But they couldn’t buy more than a month’s worth of discounted 10-ride passes, thanks to a Metra policy designed to prevent stockpiling.
“It’s to be expected,” law student Kristen Serna, 26, said as she waited to buy passes for her ride between Grayslake and downtown. “Nobody likes to pay more, but there are things that bother me more in the world.”
Metra says the fare increase is necessary to plug a $53.6 million budget gap and to fund infrastructure improvements.
One-way fares within the city from downtown increase from $2.50 to $3 Wednesday, while 10-ride tickets increase from $20 to $27 and monthly tickets go from $63.45 to $85.50.
One-way fares from downtown to inner-ring suburbs go from $4 to $4.75; 10-ride tickets go from $32.30 to $42.75; and monthly tickets increase from $102.60 to $135.25.
From downtown to the farthest outlying towns one-way fares will go from $8.50 to $9.25; 10-ride tickets will go from $68.45 to $83.25; and monthly tickets will go from $217.35 to $263.50.
In the past, 10-ride tickets were good for a year. But all tickets sold between November 11 and Tuesday expire Feb. 29. Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said in previous years customers had “stockpiled” the passes before price rises came into effect but “we couldn’t afford that this year.”
From today, the higher-priced 10-ride tickets will again be valid for a year, he said.
Commuters lining up to buy passes at Union Station on Tuesday were frustrated but resigned to the changes.
“I don’t think it’s right,” Leslie Pilkington, 56, said as she prepared to fork out an extra $15 for 10 rides between Elgin and her downtown job. “If the tickets didn’t expire at the end of February, I would have bought lots more.”
Mike Maxwell, 30, was unhappy to see his monthly ticket increase from $63 to $86, but he said, “It’s still way cheaper than putting gas in my car, so I’ll just have to deal with it.”
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