Nice move, Metra. You have now made it cheaper for my family to drive and park downtown, than take the train. Come on. really!? How about a family fare?

Metra is just another bloated monopoly. Eliminate that useless SW service that runs infrequently and usually is late. What is the point of taking train to work if you are late?

Aren't they the ones where the CEO embezzled $Millions then offed himself in front of a train ? Classy.

After a 35% fare increase a year ago. Now another fair increase. Who puts these people on the Metra board and how does the public go about removing them. Maybe Cliff needs to go back where he came from and we need to get someone from the private sector to step in and run this like a business rather than another useless government agency. It's amazing that private companies can run the parking meters, the Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road and make money, but government was losing millions. Take the hint Metra.

Every taxpayer/rider on the Rock Island District line should ask Metra how much of the 11% increase is driven by the $1.3 million just given to Oak Forest for a new station, $6.3 million tossed into the 80th Avenue station in Tinley Park with the underpass that has already been vandalized, and the $1.1 million spent to put ding-dong lights at pedestrian overpasses at Tinley Park Oak Park Avenue and Hickory Creek. So when these local mayors say that costs aren't falling on local community taxpayers they are full of you-know-what. The costs are not only falling directly on the taxpaying riders of those communities but the costs are falling on every taxpaying rider on the Rock Island District. So to you Chicagoans and south suburban residents, do you like the fact that Mayor Zabrocki and his band of hooligans just spent so much of YOUR money? How about asking Mayor Kuspa how you will be able to enjoy the new Oak Forest station. And, to those of you riding the Southwest Service Line through Orland Park, what has the 19th Ward South provided to you in exchange for your hard earned money?

Keep building the multi million dollar train stations. Commuter lots half empty now. Put restaurants in them that no one will go eat. Let the Village of Tinley Park call it a destination that people will go to...spend $5000 to decorate it for the holidays. Its a damn train station that people use 5 minutes a day on their WAY to work. No one lingers there after they get off the train. Build a warming/cooling building with a coffe machine and bathrooms. Our goverment at work wasting money and increasing fares.....what a bunch of IDIOTS.

For people who regularly use the train, I suppose its a convenience factor, but I would buy the 10-ride and use it over the course of several months or even a year. The benefit of buying a 10-ride was a win-win. Metro got to use your money, paid in advance, for a year and you got a free ride. There is no reason I would do that now.

I have a (November 2012) monthly ticket (marked female) which my wife cannot use since she was downsized. If anyone would like to purchase it, the price is going down every day. Check Craigslist for 'Metra Ticket' in South Chicagoland. We really need to recoup whatever we can for bills. Or, you can contact me through this site, if possible.
Thank you!

I haven't taken the metra since the last fare hike. It costs $10.50a day to ride the train now & $6.25 to park at river city & i don't have to wait for an hour for my afternoon train anymore. Thanks Metra!!

If the late Phil Pagano hadn't plundered Metra funds for years and years, they might not have had to bring on these increases.

I also quit taking Metra after the last increase. I now take a bus to the Orange Line which stops right at my building. No more mile walks to the LaSalle St. station (which is only convenient if you work in the south end of the Loop.) My monthly transportation bill is now $86 as opposed to $120, you do the math. I never thought that I'd be getting to work in the same amount of time taking that horrid CTA, but turns out I do, oddly both the bus and the el are pretty much to the minute with their schedules (though that's not what they try to tell you in the media).

Isn't there a board meeting, where the public can state their case, prior to the increase? When does this increase take effect? I too find it somewhat amazing the structures that are being built and the money it is costing to build them. We don't need such massive structures. Why didn't Metra incorporate coffee shops/diners inside them, making them multi-functional? With the increased fares, will we get better/more service, especially on the SW Service? I don't mind paying but what I don't understand is why we have a two hour gap between trains in the middle of the day? No other line has that large of a gap, with as many commuters we have on the SW service. Does someone know when and where the Metra Board meeting will be held? If enough people voice real concerns, it may make a difference. Please stop spewing nonsense and think of intelligent ways to solve yet another problem facing us.

Never ceases to amaze me of how governmental entities try to increase revenue - by increasing prices. Simply financially ignorant. Let's see...My revenue is too low as McDonald's. I know raise the price of the McDouble to $2 - that'll work - Not!

For those of us who rely on ten-rides, I suggest we no longer buy them. Simply buy one way tickets and bury them in paperwork and printing costs.

Get used to it! This is only the beginning. Taxes, fees and everything else is going to go up now that the election is over. You voted for it, you OWN it!

Thanks Ryan for this post.
Look forward to reading more people's thoughts.

My observation is business related, not political.
I am amazed at what appears to be business/finance stupidity.
By (in effect) elminitating the 10-ride ticket, the lost revenue will cause costs to increase.
When traveling, I will now have to buy the ticket on the train if the "self service machine" is down (often)
This will cause the conductors more work then really necessary.
More importatinly, revenue will be lost due to the non use of 10-rides tickets.
I can not remember how many times I lost or forgot the ticket, and had to buy a new one.
For me as an unfrequent rider, my ticket will expire before all 10 rides were used causing the "free" revenue to be lost.

This business issue is the same as a company where my daughter works.
They are losing clients and raising their fee to compensate.
What is happening is more people are leaving and the result is the death sprial.
If the business had reduced the cost, more would stay, and more would join.
Better to get some revenue then lose more! (find other ways to save costs)

Same with the "tax" raises.
When taxes are raised (like ciggarets) people buy where the tax rate is cheaper.
Lower the cost(tax) and more people would stay/buy.
That is NOT a rocket science solution.
Am I unique in this thinking?

The year for the 10 ride is part of the reason I have lost the ticket. Even when I was a daily rider, a couple of times I lost the monthly and had to buy a new one - for some strange reason I would always lose the ticket soon after I bought.
Since there is no financial incentive to buy the 10-ride, why bother?

There's no longer a benefit to giving Metra your money before you need the product. Now it will be strictly pay-as-you (well, I) -go.

Metra - Boo, Hiss on you!! Guess, I'll only be going downtown on weekends until they screw that up too.