January 1, 2017 marks the date of the overhaul of the Port Authority’s fare system. As noted in an article today the Authority will be doing its best to inform passengers about the changes, which include doing away with the zone system, paying on entering, and the elimination of free bus rides Downtown.
We wrote a blog in January when the proposal was percolating and a Brief in June on the fare changes and pointed out that while the free bus rides will be history the free light rail rides in Downtown and the North Side stations will remain in place. Thus the Authority will tell riders if they are going to be wholly within the light rail free fare zone they don’t pay, but riding past it requires payment and possible verification by Authority employees and police.
