As one of the ways to fill a budget hole of over $400 million — the administration of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has proposed an increase in fares to ride the Metrorail and Metrobus systems.
The proposed increase is 50 cents a ride.
That might not sound like a lot at first glance. But Cathy Dos Santos of the advocacy group Transit Alliance told WLRN the numbers really add up over a whole year for those who rely on public transportation.
“It’s 50 cents, but it really is $325 a year for a daily user. And who are our daily users for Miami-Dade transit? Folks relying on public transit to get work, to do their appointments — for pretty much anything if you don’t own a car,” said Dos Santos. “$325 a year can make a difference to folks.”
Dos Santos said the proposal shifts the burden of filling the budget gap onto low income residents least able to afford it, and her group opposes it.
The Metrorail system provided a total of 1.1 million passenger rides for the month of June, according to the latest county report. Likewise, the MetroBus system provided 4.3 million rides to residents that month.
The county has struggled to regain the amount of transit riders that it had before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as it has seen the number of commuters increasing every year since hitting bottom in fiscal year 2021, when it had only 9.3 million rides.
In fiscal year 2019, the Metrorail system saw a total of nearly 18.5 million rides throughout the entire fiscal year. For fiscal year 2024, it had bounced back to 14.5 million.
Dos Santos fears that increasing the fares by 50 cents — a 22% increase — will discourage users from taking public transit, and that progress towards building back ridership will be lost. Rides would go from $2.25 to $2.75.
“It’s going to affect our ridership. It’s going to take a hit,” said Dos Santos. “Overall we think it’s too much, too fast. Walk this back and let’s give Miami-Dade Transit the chance to actually flourish and grow our ridership.”
The initial budget proposal from the Levine Cava administration would have also raised fares on the Special Transportation Service (STS) by 75 cents a ride. The STS offers car service for medical patients and residents with disabilities.
That proposed 75 cent increase has been rolled back to a 25 cent increase per ride in the latest budget proposal.
Also included in the county’s original budget proposal was a tax increase of 2 cents on every gallon of gasoline sold in the county, forcing drivers to foot a part of the bill for covering the budget gap as well. The current county gas tax is 3 cents a gallon.
But after facing pressure from drivers and the county finding more money, the newest version of the budget proposes an increase of 1 cent per gallon of gas.
The county budget will be voted on next month. County commissioners will discuss the budget at public hearings on Sept. 4 and Sept. 18. The hearings are held at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1st Street, 22nd Floor, Miami, FL 33128.
Learn more about the county budget here. You can find contact information about your commissioners here.
