DCTA to vote on proposed price increase for train tickets

The new fare costs would enable Denton riders to purchase one ticket for all metro systems.

Photo by Hannah Meyer

A UNT student boards the A-train at the downtown Denton train station Monday evening. The DCTA will vote later this month on fare changes.

DENTON — The Denton County Transportation Authority is set to hold public meetings this month on possible fare changes that would increase the cost of some passes to ease travel and price consistency with other regional transportation systems’ fares beginning in January.

The University Pass Program for UNT students and employees would not be affected by the changes.

The proposed “reciprocal fare agreement” would lead to more consistent pass prices across the regional fare structure of the DCTA, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority.

In effect, the agreement would allow a Denton rider to use one ticket to access all three transportation services by offering similar rates on the A-Train, said Dee Leggett, vice president of program development for the DCTA.

“When we were sitting down with the staff and looking at what we were going to take forward to the public, we wanted to balance any increase with other changes that might offset the impact to our customers,” Leggett said.

Proposed changes would increase the cost of regional day passes from $2 to $2.50, and monthly regional passes would increase from $120 to $160, among other changes.

The A-Train is a fantastic daytime transportation system. It isn't great for getting to and from Denton in the evenings.

The changes are proposed in hopes of achieving DCTA’s goals of providing regional fare consistency with DART and the T, minimizing impact on the transit-dependent population and to encourage bulk pass partnerships with other transportation systems, according to a DCTA press release.

DCTA assumes a fare increase every five years, but is not anticipating another increase in the immediate future following these latest proposed changes, Leggett said.

Proposed changes to the DART and the T fare structures are set to go into effect in December, according to the authorities’ respective websites. The DCTA Board of Directors will vote on the proposed changes on Oct, 25, and if approved, its new prices will go into effect on Jan. 14.

“I’m sure there will be lots of questions,” DCTA marketing manager Kristina Brevard said. “We want to be there to answer them and clarify any questions.”

Three public meetings will be held next week in Lewisville, Highland Village and Denton. The Denton meeting is at 7 p.m. on Oct. 11 at the Downtown Denton Transit Center.

Those who cannot attend and would like to comment on the proposed fare structure can contact info@dcta.net or call 972-221-4600 by Oct. 24.

A more in-depth breakdown of the proposed fare changes and meeting details can be found at www.dcta.net.