VRE eyes another fare increase in summer

The transit agency raised fares 3 percent in July and plans to raise them again Jan. 5, this time 7 percent. It is the first time the agency raised fares in the middle of a fiscal year. Straub said the agency had to pay a large settlement and didn’t anticipate the summer’s high fuel prices.

“It was disappointing that we had to do it,” she said, “because we really take a lot of time and care to put forth a balanced budget.”

But later this week, she said, VRE officials plan to discuss whether to raise fares another 6 percent in July.

Dunham said the fare increases are outpacing many riders’ pay raises. “We sympathize, but there really is need for a long-term stable funding source in Virginia,” he said.

VRE doesn't have a dedicated source of funding, and since the local subsidies can't pay more, they rely on customers to balance the budget. Unfortunately, this makes VRE fares more expensive than MARC

http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/122208- ... ummer.html

Nobody likes fare increases, but I think most people would prefer fare increases over significant service cuts (yes, I'm talking about you MARC).

CHIP72 wrote:Nobody likes fare increases, but I think most people would prefer fare increases over significant service cuts (yes, I'm talking about you MARC).

I agree - or at least something of a middle ground. Has VRE explored any service cuts to help balance the budget?

HokieNav wrote:

CHIP72 wrote:Nobody likes fare increases, but I think most people would prefer fare increases over significant service cuts (yes, I'm talking about you MARC).

I agree - or at least something of a middle ground. Has VRE explored any service cuts to help balance the budget?

To my knowledge VRE has talked about eliminating a couple of middle of the day trains, I think specifically #325/#336 on the Manassas Line. This pair of trains, which is actually one train making a roundtrip move from Union Station to Broad Run Airport (Manassas) and then back to Union Station, primarily serves people leaving early from work in Washington; it leaves Union Station at 1:10 PM. (That train also allows people living inside the DC Beltway to check out the Manassas Line and/or stations along the line without having to get up REALLY early in the morning or use Amtrak for one of the legs. I used #325 and #338 - the latter of which leaves Broad Run Airport at 5:10 PM and goes back to DC - to check out most of the Manassas Line and the town of Manassas itself back in late October.)