Metrolink considers raising fares

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A Metrolink commuter train passes the Burbank Water and Power natural-gas-fueled plant on Dec. 11, 2008 in Burbank.

Come the beginning of the year, you could be paying more to ride Metrolink trains. The board overseeing Metrolink will consider raising fares when it meets Friday.

Metrolink’s budget is several million dollars in the hole, so the commuter rail line’s board of directors is considering a fare hike of as much as 6 percent.

If it’s approved, it would be the second hike in six months. Metrolink fares went up 3 percent in August.

A 6 percent hike would push the round-trip fare from downtown Riverside to Los Angeles' Union Station from $20.75 to $22. Round trip from Laguna Niguel to L.A.’s Union Station would rise to nearly $21. Fares would increase less than a dollar on shorter trips.

Metrolink officials are grappling with lost revenue because they’ve lost about a half-million riders this year. That’s a 14 percent drop from last year. The Antelope Valley line has seen the biggest decline.

Some officials are concerned that with higher fares, ridership could plummet even more, and send the Metrolink budget even further into the hole.