Dallas Area Rapid Transit plans to raise fare prices for the first time in six years.
DART revealed during a July 9 community meeting that, beginning next year, fare prices will be raised, and less popular fare options will be eliminated, per The Dallas Morning News.
DART will eliminate the single-ride AM/PM pass and midday pass options, replacing them with a three-hour pass for the same price as the $3 AM/PM pass for locals and $1.50 for reduced local service.
Monthly passes will be raised from $96 to $126, and reduced monthly passes will be raised from $48 to $63. Non-employee-sponsored annual passes will be eliminated, and day pass rates will remain unchanged.
The paratransit fee will increase by 50 cents from $3 to $3.50.
DART staff revealed that the price increases are intended to help maintain and improve service and battle higher costs.
The community meeting was the first of 10 planned throughout August to gather public input on the proposed changes.
Last year, per DMN, DART offered a public survey about the proposed fare changes while considering alternative fare scenarios.
With these changes, the company expects to raise revenues by 7.2 million dollars next year, totaling $48.7 million projected for 2025.
“We have heard from our customers and communities that there are too many different types of base fares depending on time of day and depending on if a transfer is needed, and often that can be confusing,” Jing Xu, assistant vice president of service planning and scheduling at DART said during the meeting, per DMN.
Changes are projected to help veterans by documenting their fares and making the pilot low-income fare program permanent.
DART will hold another public hearing on August 27 at 6 p.m. before finalizing the proposed changes. If approved, the changes would go into effect in March 2025.