Miami-Dade bus and Metrorail fares will rise by 50 cents in January under a plan approved by county commissioners last week that restores some threatened bus service but leaves two routes serving Coconut Grove facing late-night cuts.
Commissioners voted 9-4 on Tuesday to increase fares from $2.25 to $2.75, helping generate $9.2 million in additional funding and savings to preserve service on 13 priority bus routes. The plan also calls for slightly longer waits between Metrorail trains.
For Coconut Grove riders, the changes mean Route 42 will be spared elimination, and late-night service on Route 27 will be restored.
But Routes 22 and 37, which serve the Grove and connect riders to destinations across Miami-Dade, will stop running after 10 p.m. beginning in March. The reductions on those two routes represent more than 30,000 annual rides, according to county figures.
Countywide, 34 bus routes will lose service after 10 p.m., and six routes will be eliminated entirely. The reductions are expected to affect 3,341 weekday riders.
The cuts are less extensive than those proposed in July, when county officials facing a roughly $90 million transit budget shortfall recommended eliminating 12 routes and reducing service on dozens more.
Read more: County Bus Cuts Could Hit Grove Workers Hard
Commissioners are still looking for ways to preserve additional service, including the possibility of charging fares on the currently free Metromover.
