VRE: Fares Rising 3 Percent Starting July 1

Starting July 1, 2012, Virginia Rail Express riders will see a 3 percent fare increase.

VRE's operations board approved the increase in a meeting Friday, April 20. 

to offset increases in fuel costs, retail sales commissions, facilities maintenance, and annual contract escalations, said VRE. 

A three-percent fare hike will yield $900,000 in fare revenue for fiscal year 2013, said VRE. 

Public hearings were authorized on Feb. 17, 2012, for the proposed fare hike and were held between Feb. 27 and April 6.  

Low turnout was recorded at the hearings across Northern Virginia, but VRE recieved 34 comment emails regarding the fare increase: 

• 5 Fredericksburg
• 6 L’Enfant
• 3 PRTC
• 12 Manassas
• 3 Crystal City
• 0 Burke
• 0 Stafford 

"For the first time in VRE history, hearings were held in which no one attended," reads the proposed agenda for the VRE fare hearing.

Although the fare increase varies depending on line, stop and service; Woodbridge riders will see an increase in $6 for monthly fares to Union Station and $0.25 for a single trip to Union Station. 

Here's the breakdown of the comments sent to VRE:

• 16 comments that the need to increase fares was understandable
• 25 negative comments on the proposed increased fare
• 11 comments regarding on-time performance, service or capacity needs to improve
• 13 comments associating opposition to fare increase with transit subsidy decrease and pay freezes. 

To see how the fare increase will affect your commute, check the PDF to the right. 

________

Get daily and breaking news email updates from Woodbridge Patch by signing up for newsletters here.