CEO: MARTA may eye fare hike in '20

Board of directors last hiked fares in 2011 and, before that, in 2009.

MARTA customers haven’t seen a fare increase in eight years. But that could change as soon as next year, the agency’s top official told state lawmakers Wednesday.

CEO Jeffrey Parker told a legislative panel that MARTA will consider a fare increase as it prepares its fiscal 2021 budget, which would take effect in July.

“I don’t want to say that we’re on

the verge of a fare increase because we haven’t implemented those plans,” Parker told the General Assembly’s MARTA Oversight Committee. “But eight years without a fare increase is a long time.”

The MARTA board of directors last raised fares in 2011, when the

cost of a one-way trip rose from $2 to $2.50. Before that, it raised fares from $1.75 to $2 in 2009.

In recent years, rising sales tax revenue has helped shore up the agency’s financial position. At Wednesday’s meeting, state Rep. Brett Harrell, R-Snellville, noted that state law requires fare revenue to cover about 35% of MARTA’s operating expenses. He asked whether the agency is meeting that goal.

Parker said fare revenue is “in the low 30s” as a share of operating expenses. That’s when he broached the possibility of a fare increase.

“As we look toward the 2021 budget, it’s something we need to start thinking seriously about,” he said.

After the meeting, Parker told

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that any increase would be subject to a lengthy process that involved public hearings and an analysis of how it would affect customers. And he stressed a fare hike is no sure thing.

“MARTA needs to think about a

fare increase every time it proposes a budget,” Parker said. “I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t exploring that as part of the conversation.”