ST Express, Link fare changes take effect June 1

Second phase of Sound Transit's simplified fare structure begins next month

Changes to ST Express bus and Link light rail fares will take effect on Wednesday, June 1 as Sound Transit completes a two-phase process of simplifying its fare structure and responding to increased operating costs.

Under the simplified ST Express fare structure, all of King County will become one fare zone instead of three, so any trip in the region that starts and ends in the same county will have a one-county fare. Fares for adults currently taking one-zone trips in King County and multi-county adult fares will increase $0.50, and the one-county fare for youth will go up $0.25. Fares for youth traveling across two zones in King County will decrease $0.50. Fares for senior and disabled riders, which Sound Transit reduced last year, and the fare for youth traveling across counties, will not change.

When the first phase of the fare change took effect in June 2010, ST Express bus fares had increased only once, in 2005, when ST Express service began.

Effective June 1, ST Express fares for one-county and multi-county bus service will be:

Link light rail fares for adults go up $0.25, and youth fare for all Link trips will be $1.25. Fares for senior and disabled riders will remain unchanged.

The new fare structure for Link will be:

The changes are the second phase of fare increases Sound Transit began implementing last June to respond to higher operating costs, simplify the ST Express and Link light rail fare structures, and bring Sound Transit fares in closer alignment with other local transit agencies. These changes will also help Sound Transit recoup a greater share of operating costs from fares.

Fares for Sounder commuter rail remain unchanged.

Details of fare changes can be found at: www.soundtransit.org/farechange.