Metrolinks fare hike is here why the train is still a top SoCal travel hack as gas prices soar
Metrolink may be hiking its prices — but to anyone paying for gas in Los Angeles, a ride on Southern California’s regional commuter rail network is still sounding like a big bargain.The agency has announced the first fare bump in thirteen years — amounting to a 14% increase on the average one-way ticket, and by a couple of bucks each for the systemwide SoCal Day Pass, which right now costs as little as $10.Starting on Oct.
5, it’ll cost you more to traverse the system’s 550 miles or so of track — that’s roughly like going from Los Angeles to Mendocino.Except in this case, you’re going to Lancaster, or Oxnard, or San Bernardino, or Oceanside — and Perris and Palmdale, too.
“Metrolink has worked hard to keep fares affordable while the cost of operating and maintaining our regional rail system has continued to rise,” Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle said in an announcement of the change.“These pricing adjustments are one step in a broader effort we are taking to responsibly address those pressures and support Metrolink’s long-term financial sustainability,” Kettle continued.Given the way fuel costs have been soaring into the stratosphere lately, even a slightly pricier pass to ride the rails winds up feeling like a solid value — at least, for those who bother to take advantage.
This easy workaround to the soaring cost of commuting in the Southland — and traveling to major tourist destinations and beaches — continues to be experienced only by a relative few.The network’s busiest stop, Los Angeles Union Station, only managed to board an average of 7,861 riders per day, according to one source — a minuscule number, given the regional population of 20 million.There are, of course, reasons for the limited interest — scant schedules, schedule changes, schedule downsizing, trains not going to places enough people want to go, coastal erosion.
Not to paper over the fact that these issues exist, but most of these things happen to a...