Sticker shock comes for Metrolink riders with new fare increase: 'Everyone is struggling'

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Set us as preferred Tonia Jones was shocked to learn that Metrolink fares were going up.She’s taken the train regularly for the last seven years, often with her 12-year-old dog.

It’s how she commutes between Montclair and downtown for her business and to visit family as she saves for a car while gas prices rise.She wasn’t prepared for the hike, but doesn’t have another option.“We can’t afford that! How ridiculous,” Jones, 61, said while waiting for her train at Union Station.“I don’t know what to do — just get out of California when I can.”As Metrolink faces budget shortfalls and service reductions, the regional commuter rail network is raising its ticket prices on Monday for the first time in 13 years by as much as 27%.

The day before, at Union Station, there was little visible notice to riders about the change.The welcome screen at the ticket kiosks noted a “fare adjustment,” with no further information, and no signage appeared anywhere near the main entrance or inside the train depot.Many riders who regularly rely on the train have voiced their anger over the changes as one-way tickets go up by 14%; daily passes by 27%, from $15 to $19; and weekend passes by 20%, from $10 to $12.

Some were unaware of just how much it would cost them.Gabriel Frias, 38, has taken Metrolink nearly every day for the last two decades to commute to work at a party rental business in Van Nuys and to visit his children on the weekends in Fontana.He was disappointed to learn just how much the fares would increase without any gains for riders, and he questioned the rationale.“Everyone is struggling.

For day-to-day commuters, this is another thing they have to worry about,” Frias said.“One-way tickets all the way up to the weekend tickets? That will affect a lot of people.

… It’s more money to fork out for the s...