TriMet's first fare increase in 10 years will go into effect on New Year's Day

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The new year is a season of change for many things. Among those is a looming TriMet fare increase that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

Adult and LIFT paratransit tickets will cost $2.80 and honored citizen and youth tickets will cost $1.40. Adult day passes will cost $5.60 and honored citizen and youth passes will cost $2.80.

TriMet’s Board of Directors approved the price hike in a budget meeting back in May, leading to the agency’s first adult fare increase in more than a decade.

After the board voted 6-1 in favor of the fare increase, they released the following statement:

“The FY2024 budget includes $825.4 million in day-to-day operating expenses and $328.3 million in capital and operating projects. Along with those expenses and other financial requirements, the budget comes to $1.93 billion. It incorporates a fare increase, which was approved by the Board moments before the final adoption of the budget.”

Director Kathy Wai (District 7) was the only dissenting vote on the board.

“I’m really concerned that this fare increase is not going to do anything to address the stagnancy that we see in ridership,” she said. “It’s really sad because when you talk to a lot of Portlanders, people aren’t riding transit as much as they were back in the day, due to affordability, and so many reasons.”