HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - Miami-Dade commissioners moved to raise fares for Metrorail and bus riders by 50 cents in a 9-4 vote on Tuesday. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is also expected to devise a plan that could impose a fee on the historically free-to-ride Metromover in downtown Miami.
For the first time since 2013, county commissioners have voted to raise Metrorail and bus fares. The current $2.25 fee per ticket will be raised to $2.75 starting on Jan. 1, 2027.
Some riders have already spoken out against the coming change, calling it the price hike unfair and a significant change.
“You’ll have to adjust your whole life in order to adjust to what the county is doing,” said Michael, a frequent public transit user.
Members of the public at Tuesday’s meeting said the increased fares will have the most severe impact on residents who rely on public transit.
“Taking the Metrorail twice a day sums up to an additional $240 per year,” Gabriela said during public comments.
“As a full-time student, I rely on transit five days a week to go to campus and back home,” said Israel Dalberiste, another speaker at Tuesday’s meeting.
On Tuesday evening, Tyrone Cason told 7News he understands the commission’s angle for raising fares.
“You think about it, take 50 cents, how many times you ride the bus, times 365; that’s a lot of money,” said Cason.
Despite concerns of stretching budgets for riders, commissioners expect the rate hike to bring in roughly $10 million in additional revenue for Miami-Dade.
Levine Cava said that money will allow the county to restore late night bus services.
“We’ll be able to restore night service and also full routes. Some of the routes that we had proposed to eliminate because of lower ridership still are critically important, so some of those will be fully restored,” she said.
Cason, however, stressed that the extra cash shouldn’t come at the expense of causing undue hardships to those that lean heavily on public transit to move around.
“We need it. It’s the bloodline of our cities,” said Cason. “We need it, so we do need to fund it.”
Commissioners said it was a necessary move to ensure services could be restored for residents who had no other way to get home at those odd hours.
“I took that last bus, so if you’re on the last bus or the first bus, you’re doing it because you don’t have any other choice,” Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert.
Commissioners also directed Levine Cava to devise a plan that would impose a fee on the downtown Metromover, which has historically been available for all riders at no additional cost.
“We actually directed the administration to figure it out once and for all to charge $1 plus whatever the fee collection is, because for years they’ve been saying that they can’t figure out the fee collection, so it’s an enormous step forward,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado.
Officials emphasized there will still be some exceptions for residents who meet certain criteria. Among those are military veterans, students and senior citizens. Those free and subsidized fares will remain untouched in the coming year.
“I can’t go anywhere without having to pay anything,” said Luis Blanco, who relies on his Miami-Dade Transit golden passport to move around. “It still makes an impact, you know, I don’t have a car, so I depend on the public service.”
Levine Cava said she will also be running significant public outreach campaigns to spread awareness of any free or subsidized services that transit riders may be able to qualify for as the price hike goes into effect.
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