NYMTA
The MTA on Sept. 27 announced adjustments to proposed fare policies that are scheduled to be voted on by the MTA Board on Tuesday, Sept. 20. These changes, the MTA says, are being proposed following an extensive public comment period in which 1,378 comments were submitted from customers, advocates, and elected officials across the service area.
Under these revisions, the fare cap for seven days of unlimited travel on subways and buses using tap and ride would be lowered from $36 to $35. This equates to a less than 3% increase from the current price for a weekly pass. After 12 paid trips in any seven-day period, customers would automatically get unlimited free rides the rest of the week, as they do today.
After listening to feedback from commuter rail customers who expressed concern over the previously announced four-hour validity window on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and Metro-North tickets, all one-way mobile and paper commuter rail tickets will instead expire at 4:00 a.m. the following day, “ensuring customers can still get home, even if their plans change.”
Additionally, the “family fare” program, which allows up to four children to ride commuter rail lines for $1 each with a fare-paying adult, will be expanded to include children 17 and under (currently 11 and under). The family fare program would also be valid at any time of day all week.
Fares would no longer increase on Metro-North Railroad West of Hudson service, including Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines.
After proposed fare changes were first announced in July, the MTA held an extensive, six-week public comment period. Three public hearings were held in person and online via Zoom. Additional comment sessions were held in 22 locations across the MTA’s service area, including subway stations, commuter rail stations, and mobile sales vans. Comments were also accepted through an online portal, phone hotline, e-mail, and the postal service. These efforts resulted in four times as many comments as were received in 2023, when fares were last increased.
The 2025 MTA Operating Budget, approved by the Board in December 2024, assumed a fare and toll increase would occur in March 2025. The MTA is delaying the fare and toll increase to January 2026 to align with the launch of full tap and ride on subways and buses. The MTA Board is set to vote on these new proposed adjustments, as well as the previously announced fare and toll increase, during their monthly meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
BART
BART on Sept. 26 announced that it has completed the installation work on a milestone project that the agency says is already making the system safer. Next Generation Fare Gates are now in place at all 50 BART stations. BART promised to complete installation by the end of 2025 but beat that deadline by four months with the final gates being installed in August.
“This is the latest in a string of victories for riders that are transforming the daily BART experience,” said BART General Manager Bob Powers. “Since last year we have boosted our visible safety presence in the system, increased cleaning, gone to running only Fleet of the Future trains, became the first transit agency in the Bay Area to offer riders Tap and Ride, and now we have installed state-of-the-art fare gates that are already deterring unwanted behavior. Our riders say they want a system that is safe, clean, and user friendly, and we are responding with decisive actions.”
The number of riders who say they’ve witnessed someone fare evade on their trip has dropped by more than 50% in just the last year, according to BART. In the latest Quarterly Performance Report, only 10% of riders said they saw someone fare evade. That’s down from 22% in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2025. Reports of fare evasion have been dwindling as Next Generation Fare Gates have been installed at more stations, the agency noted.
“The completion of the Next Generation Fare Gates project marks a major step forward in modernizing our system and enhancing the rider experience,” said BART Board Vice President Melissa Hernandez. “These new gates improve accessibility, safety, and efficiency, and reflect BART’s commitment to investing in the future of public transit across the Bay Area.”
The gates feature a unique door locking mechanism that makes their swing barriers very hard to push through, jump over, or maneuver under. The overall fare gate array height (gate, console, integrated barrier) forms a barrier of 72 inches minimum to deter fare evasion.
“The gates deployed by BART are the only ones of their kind in the world,” said Sylvia Lamb, BART Assistant General Manager for Infrastructure Delivery and head of the fare gates project “Our team did incredible work to beat the installation deadline by several months. Now we will benefit from lesson learned over the last year through the experiences of hundreds of thousands of riders to focus on making these gates even more resilient.”
Upcoming work, BART says, will focus on the full utilization of advanced sensors to make it harder for those who want to “piggyback” into the system by closely following behind paying riders.
BART replaced 715 fare gates across a system that spans five counties.
WMATA
WMATA on Sept. 26 announced a strong close to fiscal year 2025, achieving $120 million in savings while delivering record ridership growth and national recognition for service excellence.
According to the agency, WMATA customers took 264 million trips, a 9% increase over FY24 and 16% above budget projections, generating $462 million in passenger revenue. Rail ridership rose to 139 million trips and bus reached 124 million, both well above projections.
“Metro continues to prove that we can deliver safe, frequent, and reliable service while managing costs responsibly,” said WMATA General Manager and CEO Randy Clarke. “This year we moved more people, saved more money, and reinvested in the system our region depends on. These results show what’s possible when efficiency and the customer experience go hand in hand.”
WMATA ended FY25 with $120 million in total savings, including $28 million in one-time operating reductions and $92 million reinvested in the Six-Year Capital Program. The agency says it closely managed operating expenses through a cost efficiency task force that implemented recurring savings of $50 million, wage freezes for non-represented employees and two of WMATA’s largest unions saving $38 million, along with service optimization for $20 million in savings.
FY25 also marked major system improvements and industry honors. WMATA was named Outstanding Public Transportation Agency by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and received the International Sanitary Supply Association’s inaugural Spotless Space of the Year award.
Key accomplishments included:
- Launch of the Better Bus Network and Tap. Ride. Go. contactless fare payment.
- Reintroduction of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) for the first time in 15 years.
- Modernization of faregates at all 98 Metrorail stations and installation of new fareboxes on 1,500 buses.
- Deployment of 185 new MetroAccess minivans and 49 next-generation vehicles.
- Major rail fleet maintenance, including scheduled work and wheelset replacement on 358 7000-series railcars.
“Prudent stewardship of resources and a spirit of innovation have contributed significantly to Metro’s success this past year,” said WMATA Board Chair Valerie Santos. “We are proving that smart, accountable management leads to better service and real results. The path ahead requires stable, dedicated funding—so we can build on this progress and deliver a world-class system for our communities.”
In FY26, WMATA says it will be “building on last year’s strong performance” by adding peak Metrorail capacity to address ridership growth, opening earlier on weekend mornings and closing later on weekend late nights and extending half of Yellow Line trains to Greenbelt in December. Also, in FY26, the agency will be extending Tap. Ride. Go. to Metrobus, “while continuing to modernize and improve efficiency.” At the same, WMATA emphasized the urgent need to address the capital funding cliff in FY26, “warning that a long-term funding solution is essential to sustain modernization and system reliability.”
STM
Montrealers may face more transit disruptions in the coming days as the STM and the maintenance workers’ union continue negotiations amid a strike, according to a CityNews Montreal report.
According to the report, on Saturday, Sept. 27, the STM received a proposal from the union regarding part of the collective agreement’s normative clauses. However, the STM says, “the offer did not take into account the financial challenges or the operational realities of the transit system and showed no real progress.”
In response, the STM has submitted a counterproposal “aiming to bring both parties closer to an agreement.” Negotiations are scheduled to continue on Monday, Sept. 29, according to the CityNews Montreal report.
“The STM negotiation committee says it has the full authority and expertise to reach a fair deal with the union. The transit agency is firmly committed to the negotiation process and is making every effort to avoid a strike,” according to the report.
According to the report, if the maintenance workers’ union decides to continue with its planned strike, it could last until Oct. 5. The STM is urging passengers to plan their trips carefully and stay updated by visiting their website.
