MIAMI (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.
At the start of the new year and 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 a year,” Gabriella 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 Dobris, another speaker at Tuesday’s meeting.
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’re going 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.
Commissioners said it was a necessary move to ensure those 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 stressed 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 services that transit riders may be able to qualify for as the price hike goes into effect.
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