Metra is weighing whether to return some of its passes to zone-based pricing in 2023, which would mark an end to promotional flat-rate daily and monthly passes recently tested by the agency.
The new monthly pass prices, part of a 2023 budget proposal unveiled at a board meeting Wednesday, would be lower than pre-pandemic. But for many riders, both the proposed monthly and daily pass prices would be an increase over the current flat-rate pilot passes.
Several Metra board members raised concerns about the proposed pass changes, urging fare consistency and the simplicity of fewer zones as the agency looks to continue drawing back riders from pandemic lows.
After the meeting, Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said the agency would also include current fares, including the flat-rate day and monthly passes, among budget options for the board to consider. That means the board will decide in November whether to keep the status quo or adopt the agency’s proposed new zone-based passes.
Metra did not propose changes to other pass prices or base fares.
Metra fares have traditionally been divided into zones, meaning the farther a passenger rides, the more they pay. After ridership plummeted at the start of the pandemic, Metra began testing a $100 flat-rate monthly pass and $6 and $10 daily passes.
Under Metra’s initial proposal Wednesday, monthly and daily pass prices would once again be based on the distance riders travel. The monthly pass would equal the price of 16 one-way fares, down from pre-pandemic prices that came out to 29 one-way fares, which would cost riders traveling to farther zones more than the $100 pilot monthly pass. Reduced-fare passes would be half the price.
Day passes, good for unlimited trips between selected zones, would be offered only in the Ventra app, and would cost the same as two one-way trips.
Gillis said the agency intended to move to a simpler fare structure but had limited ability to do so for 2023, and the initial proposal was intended to be a bridge to something new in future years.
Metra also planned to change its policy for selling incremental fares, which are fares passengers can buy onboard a train if their ticket does not cover the full-length of their ride. Only monthly pass holders would be allowed to purchase incremental tickets, which would cost $1 for travel to the first zone beyond the ticket’s coverage and $0.50 for each zone after that. Holders of other tickets would have to buy a new ticket if they intend to travel beyond the zone covered by their existing ticket.
The move was intended to incentivize monthly pass use, Metra said.
“The primary goal of these changes will be to recalibrate the pricing of our fare product so that the monthly pass is priced to provide the best value for those traveling two or more days a week, which is where we see our core market shifting as we continue to emerge from the pandemic,” Aaron Maertins, a data analytics manager, told the Metra board.
The pass prices are part of a $980 million operating budget proposed for 2023. The budget is 8.9% higher than in 2022, changes Metra said are partly because of inflation, adding back service and staff cut during the pandemic, union contract cost increases and other costs.
The budget projects ridership will reach about 55% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2023, and calls for closing a deficit with federal COVID-19 relief funding.
The federal relief funding is expected to run out in 2025, Metra officials told the board, leaving the agency with a $50 million budget hole that year if no other funding changes are made. That was cause for alarm for several board members, who called for more effort to head off the looming deficit.
Metra ultimately intends to return to pre-pandemic levels of service in coming years, though service patterns will likely look different, officials said.
Hearings on the budget are scheduled for Nov. 2 and 3, where the public will be able to weigh in on both the status quo fares or the proposed return to zone-based monthly and daily passes. The Metra board is scheduled to vote later in November.
sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com
