2012 Budget Book.indd - Metra

Metra Fare Principles are:
• Consider regular fare adjustments that ensure a
balanced budget, keep pace with in ation, and
avoid signi cant, infrequent fare increases;
• No longer divert capital-eligible funds to the
operating budget;
• Acknowledge the total cost and the total value
of providing services;
• Maintain a fair pricing structure that maximizes
revenues;
• Review fare media to improve fare collection
and simplify overall collection activities and
reconciliation;
• Minimize on-train transactions and overall
transaction costs;
• Recognize that convenience has a value;
• Equalize fare di erentials by zone over time;
• Evaluate fare policies of sister agencies and
peers.
More detail regarding these proposed fare increases
can be found in the Fares section of the
Proposed 2012 Program & Budget on page 28.
For 2012, Metra’s total budget for operations and
capital is $930. 9 million. As shown in Table 1, page
12, this total includes $686.8 million for operations
and $244.1 million for capital. There will be no
funds transferred from the Metra capital program
in 2012 to o set a sales tax shortfall needed to fund
operations.
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