What is Changing?

Fare Type	Current Price	Effective October 5, 2026
One-Way Ticket	Varies by distance	Approximate 14% increase
Weekday SoCal Day Pass	$15	$19
Weekend/Holiday SoCal Day Pass	$10	$12
Monthly Pass and 5-Day Flex Pass	Varies by distance	Slight adjustment*

*Monthly Pass and 5-Day Flex Pass prices are based on and calculated using One-Way Ticket fares. Some customers may have a slight increase, no change at all, or a lower price depending on their distance.

What is Not Changing?

The LA Zone Day Pass will remain $5 regardless of trip distance. All Metrolink tickets and passes will continue to include free transfers to connecting local transit services.

Metrolink’s Everyday Discounts will all remain, including the 50% Student/Youth Discount.

Looking at the agenda items for the Westside Service Council (9/9) and Gateway Cities Service Council (9/10) they seem to have this section:

RECEIVE Department of Public Safety Presentation, William Scott, Chief of Police and Emergency Management

I know some people here has had issues regarding how TAP PLUS are being done with credit/debit cards (some security harassing people that TAP PLUS isn't available on buses when it is, how checks are being done for them, etc.) or how people are still getting through the emergency swing gates, how the cops stop the train entirely, etc. etc. etc.

Now is your chance to ask the LA Metro Police Chief directly with these questions.

Stoked my city canceled bus lines to pay a private company millions to shuttle people around in vans.

I believe there was data map for which stations are the most popular for Metrolink, but is there any stats or data that shows which station pairs are the most popular?

For example, LAUS is the most popular station but is there any data which stations they are getting off at? Or perhaps those that end their trips at Anaheim and Irvine, which stations are they mostly coming from? Or perhaps are there something that is interesting that we never knew it's a popular station pair such as Norwalk to Tustin being a pretty heavily used pair? Something like that.

Transit officials report that serious crimes are committed overwhelmingly by people who evade fares. In the Los Angeles Metro system, 97 percent of people who committed a violent crime didn’t pay. In Washington, D.C., 99.5 percent of those who committed a “Part 1” crime (homicide, rape, robbery, arson, or motor vehicle theft) had dodged the fare. In New York, MTA CEO Janno Lieber says that “virtually all” crimes are committed by fare evaders.

These crimes are possible because legacy fare gates fail to prevent people from entering the system if they haven’t paid. That’s because older, full-height fare gates, like the revolving doors in New York, have substantially lower capacity—they can process fewer people per minute, which can cause crowding if a train drops off lots of people at once. Modern designs fix that problem. Cities that have installed new, full-height fare gates have seen crime and disorder plummet. San Francisco’s BART found that systemwide crime fell 41 percent after new gates were installed. Even more impressively, across the ten stations with the most corrective maintenance needs, staff time spent on in-system maintenance fell 96 percent, which suggests that fare evaders also cause most unreported crime, like littering, vandalism, and graffiti.

Other systems report similar findings. Washington, D.C.’s WMATA found that, following its own modernized fare-gate installation, fare evasion fell by 82 percent and crime by nearly 40 percent. L.A. Metro reports that a pilot program for modernized fare gates reduced passenger reports of security concerns, uncleanliness, and vandalism and graffiti by 69 percent at affected stations.

While new fare gates are a proven anti-crime policy, the House’s version of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization package doesn’t include them. The bill requires jurisdictions to have criminal or civil enforcement mechanisms for fare evasion but doesn’t specify how those requirements must be enforced.

Sooner or later, autonomous/semi-autonomous trains and buses will likely start being implemented in some shape or form, regardless of how much the unions are against it.

It says "tour bus" but Angelenos know these are those shady long distance buses going to all parts of SoCal to Mexico that have sus safety standards. I feel sorry for the passenger that didn't make it.

The OC Fair Express operated every Saturday and Sunday from July 18 through Aug. 16, with buses running from six locations across the county, including a new Irvine location this year. Service was offered approximately every 30 minutes, with buses dropping riders just a few steps from the fairgrounds.

Ridership remained strong through the final weekend, when the service recorded 4,857 boardings, approximately 12% higher than the corresponding weekend in 2025, though ridership was down slightly overall compared to last year when nearly 23,000 boardings were recorded.

For the full five-week run, ridership by route was:

• Anaheim – Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC): 6,073 boardings
• Fullerton – Fullerton Park & Ride: 4,301 boardings
• Laguna Hills – Laguna Hills Transportation Center: 3,994 boardings
• Huntington Beach – Goldenwest Transportation Center: 3,681 boardings
• Santa Ana – Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC): 2,214 boardings
• Irvine – Irvine Train Station: 1,634 boardings

What is the Mastercard Public Transit Benefit?‎

The Mastercard Public Transit Benefit is currently open to individuals with a U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Argentina or Chile-issued Mastercard credit or debit card OR one of the following U.S.-issued prepaid cards (Fintwist® Mastercard® Payroll card, dash® Prepaid Mastercard®, H&R Block Emerald Prepaid Mastercard®, rapid! PayCard® Mastercard® Payroll Card, The uLink Prepaid Mastercard®, Alpha Cash Prepaid Mastercard® or Belong Passport™ Prepaid Mastercard®) OR one of the following Argentina-issued prepaid cards (Mercado Libre, UALA, PREX or POMELO).

Once an eligible cardholder spends $10 USD or more in a calendar month using contactless payment (digital wallet or plastic) at point of entry (which does not include ticket vending machines or online transactions) within a participating public transit system they will receive a $2.50 USD statement credit.

Where is the Mastercard Public Transit Benefit available?‎

The Mastercard Public Transit Benefit is is available in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New Jersey and New York select metropolitan areas; Philadelphia, PA; San Diego, CA; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC.

The participating transit agencies include:

• Atlanta, GA: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA)
• Boston, MA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA)
• Chicago, IL: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and Pace Suburban Bus
• Dallas, TX: Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART)
• Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) and micro transit (Metro Micro)
• Miami-Dade County, FL: Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW)
• New York/New Jersey: Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) and New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit)
• Philadelphia, PA: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
• San Diego, CA: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS)
• San Francisco, CA: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
• Washington, DC: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

What qualifies as public transportation?‎

For the purpose of this benefit, public transit within the participating markets includes:

• Atlanta, GA: Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) bus and rail system, including local and express bus service, heavy rail (subway), and streetcar
• Boston, MA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus, subway and ferry
• Chicago, IL: Chicago Transit Authority bus, rail, train and Pace Suburban Bus
• Dallas, TX: Dallas Area Rapid Transit bus, streetcar, rail and train
• Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) bus and rail, and micro transit (Metro Micro)
• Miami-Dade County, FL: Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works bus and metrorail
• New York/New Jersey: rail system for PATH; bus and light rail system for NJ TRANSIT
• Philadelphia, PA: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) bus, Metro and Regional Rail
• San Diego, CA: San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) buses and Trolleys
• San Francisco, CA: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) heavy rail
• Washington, DC: WMATA bus and subway

How do I know if I’m eligible for this benefit?‎

Call Mastercard Assistance Center (MAC) at 1-800-Mastercard (1-800-627-8372) to understand if you are eligible for this offer.

When is the Mastercard Public Transit Benefit available?‎

The benefit is available 10/1/24 through 12/31/27.

I had discussions with 2 different people today saying that they're sticking to TAP cards despite credit/debit cards now being accept mainly because of reimbursements from their employer and that it's a pain in the butt to track down the charges on their credit card or debit card.

But if you think outside of the box, wouldn't this be much more easier to do if one just opened up a no monthly fee/no min balance free checking account to be used solely for transit uses? There are plenty of online banks and local credit unions that offer these things, such as Capital One 360, Discover Checking, AMEX Rewards Checking, etc. etc. Basically just create a second free checking account for the sole purpose of riding transit.

Then every transaction on that debit card will all be transit card uses and you can basically send that monthly statement to your employer and be reimbursed directly into that bank account. And you can have expanded uses that it can now be used for ANY transit that accept open payments like OCTA, SDMTS, BART, NYCMTA, etc. etc. instead of just TAP agencies. And unlike a TAP card, if you ever need the money, you can withdraw it anytime, instead of being forever locked in the TAP card with no way to get the money back.

The last of the Vermont BRT meeting before construction commences took place at the Metro Talent Hub on 8/15/2026. I think this might've been the first use of the Metro Talent Hub for community meetings.

Plenty of community members along the Vermont BRT corridor were there and it was a very lively and jovial mood. The meeting itself was lead by a local reverend of the black community. Food and drinks were served and it seems plenty of people used Metro to get to this meeting. Plenty of pastries, coffee, fruit, water bottles, and they even had some McDonald's Egg McMuffins and breakfast burritos.

Griffith Company had a booth there open for signups for construction jobs related to the Vermont BRT and several people signed up.

There were some very elderly people in attendance who remembered that the old streetcar down Vermont who were promised that someday, rail will return to Vermont. Much kudos to them and let's hope that Vermont Subway becomes a reality.

Metro Board member Jackie Dupont Walker was there wearing a Karen Bass shirt (shudders) and gave a shout out to all the community groups that were active in moving forward with the Vermont BRT project, and those members all cheered when their group name was called. One thing that stuck me was when JDW shouted out the name "ACT-LA" no one cheered and the room went dead silent, which either shows that ACT-LA really doesn't give a crap about coming to these meetings or that most of the local community groups hate them.

There was an awkward moment when JDW said "did you guys had any trouble finding parking" when most people took Metro there. Talk about not being able to read the atmosphere! I bet she drove there.

Other key takeaways:

• A mention that TAP PLUS is now active and people can now pay for their rides directly using their credit and debit cards, and many people raised their hands when asked if they started paying for Metro this way. Looks like the open payments message is going through.
• Line 754 will go away and become the new V Line (tentative naming)
• Line 204 will remain as the local route
• Couldn't catch the explanation with the cheering, but it looks like the construction phase is now partly consolidated? The most difficult part will be the middle part where Vermont Blvd. narrows and that's where most of the street parking will be removed
• Renderings of bulb areas and new bus stop designs were shown
• Several areas were highlighted where there will be no more left turns, some areas will have extended left turn lane. Some renderings were shown how several key intersections would look like.
• The plan still is to open by Spring 2028 right before the Olympics
• Not on the presentation, but did talk to one of the Metro reps there that while the current primary focus right now is getting the City of LA sections done, they are still working with City of Gardena to future extend the Vermont BRT past 120th St to eventually Harbor Gateway Transit Center and PCH.
• They did a raffle at the end where they handed out 3 lucky winners a Nipsey Hussle TAP card
• They gave out freebies as people exited

Edit:
I found the link to the the PDFs of the presentations that were shown at the meeting.

LAX’s long-delayed people mover is now more than 99% complete, but new financial concerns and a growing dispute between airport officials and the project’s contractor are raising questions about whether the train can meet its latest deadlines.

Fitch Ratings recently placed the credit rating of $1.2 billion in senior bonds tied to the Automated People Mover, dubbed Skylink, on negative watch, according to the Los Angeles Times. The agency also reportedly downgraded the bonds from BB+ to BB, pushing them further into junk territory.

The move comes as the $3.3 billion project approaches two critical deadlines: an Oct. 8 lenders’ deadline and a Dec. 8 project deadline.

Fitch warned that additional delays leave the project with little room before those deadlines are breached. In a worst-case scenario, lenders could demand repayment and the contract between Los Angeles World Airports and LAX Integrated Express Solutions, or LINXS, could ultimately be terminated.

As the new school year starts reminder that Metrolink has discontinued the Student Adventure Pass last year, so it's now 50% off for student riders, additional 50% off if you have a CA EBT card.