MARTA Board Votes To Raise Fares For 2nd Time in 2 Years

The MARTA board on Wednesday voted to raise fares from $2 to $2.50. The fare hike is scheduled to go into effect on Oct. 2.

The move follows an increase two years ago from $1.75 to $2.  Monthly passes are now $95, an 81 percent increase since 2009, when they were $52.50.

MARTA passengers packed the board room, begging the board not to take its vote, and condemning it afterward.  As the board voted, a few members of the audience blurted out pleas of "No," and then were joined by others in the audience who took up a chant for half a minute.

Terence Courtney, a local advocate for transit passengers, was among them.  In comments to the board he noted that MARTA may come back with another increase in a couple of years.  "What’s it going to be then?" he asked, apparently referring to the monthly pass. " $100? $200? Why don’t you just make it $500?"

Board members say they are being forced to make up ground.  Before 2009 the board went eight years without raising the fare, in spite of inflation.

”Yes, it’s going to be a hardship for many of our patrons, said Jim Durrett, chairman of the MARTA board. ”But it’s better we all pay more to have a service than not have a service down the road.

Ever since the financial crisis hit, MARTA has been filling budget gaps by eating into its reserves. They were expected to go dry in 2013.

Barbara Babbit Kaufman, the board’s vice chair, voted for the fare increase Wednesday, but was the lone vote against it in committee last month. She said the decision was ”agonizing for the board but there was little choice.

Along with the fare increase, MARTA is also restoring service on some bus routes, effective Sept. 24. Last year it decided to cut the shuttle to Braves games, but this spring the board voted to run the shuttle after all.

The votes Wednesday were part of the agency’s overall budget approval for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The board approved an operating budget of $413.8 million and a capital budget totaling $185.5 million, plus $143.7 million in debt service. MARTA noted it is giving no annual merit raises to employees.