Miami-Dade Approves First Transit Fare Increase in 13 Years to Save Bus Routes and Late-Night Service

Miami-Dade County commissioners on Tuesday, Oct. 6, approved the county's first transit fare increase in 13 years, raising the standard Metrobus and Metrorail fare by 50 cents to $2.75 and using the money to spare a set of bus routes and late-night service that the county's new budget had scheduled for elimination. The 9-4 vote means the fare rises from $2.25 to $2.75 in January 2027.

The county says the increase will preserve 13 routes or service segments that were set to be cut starting in March 2027, benefiting about 4,200 daily riders and more than 1.3 million trips a year. But several low-ridership routes and some late-night service will still disappear, and commissioners also asked the mayor to come back with a plan to begin charging for the downtown Metromover, which has always been free.

What the vote does

The resolution, sponsored by Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, amends the county's schedule of transit fares to raise the base fare for Metrorail and Metrobus. WLRN and WSVN reported that the new fare takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

The county's Department of Transportation and Public Works estimates the increase, combined with minor Metrorail operating adjustments, will generate about $9.2 million a year. WSVN reported that commissioners expect roughly $10 million in additional revenue. The vote was 9-4; WSVN did not identify the four commissioners who voted no.

Free and reduced-fare programs will continue for seniors, veterans, students, people with disabilities and residents with limited incomes, the county said. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said she plans public outreach to make sure eligible riders know about those options.

Which routes were saved

The fiscal year 2026-27 budget adopted at the commission's final hearing in mid-September had kept a plan to eliminate 12 low-ridership bus routes, numbered 16, 25, 42, 57, 70, 132, 203, 204, 272, 279, 288 and 338, and to end service after 10 p.m. on dozens of other routes. Before that hearing, the Miami Herald reported that Levine Cava had found about $12 million to keep early-morning service before 6 a.m. on more than 40 routes, but that restoring the remaining cuts would cost about $19 million: about $10 million for late-night service and about $9 million for the dozen routes.

According to the county, the new fare revenue restores:

• Late-evening service on seven major corridors, including the 24-hour Routes 3, 11, 27, 77 and 79.
• Route 279, which had been slated for elimination.
• Five coverage routes serving 42nd Avenue, Biscayne Park, Florida City west of U.S. 1, 125th Street, and Nicklaus Children's Hospital and West Miami.

The county said the restorations reach all 13 commission districts.

What is still being cut

Not everything was saved. Route 132 was already scheduled to be eliminated in the November 2026 service change. The approved budget also still eliminates weekend Route 338 and the limited-stop Routes 203, 204, 272 and 288, according to the county.

In addition, 16 low-ridership routes will stop running after 10 p.m. starting in March 2027. Together with the loss of Route 132, those changes affect about 250 daily passengers and save roughly $1.7 million a year, the county said. Preserving all of the remaining cuts would require another $7.7 million.

The county described the routes losing late-night service as its lowest-ridership lines. For riders who depend on them, though, the cuts can mean finding another way home after a late shift, a concern the Miami Herald highlighted in its coverage of night-shift riders before the September budget vote.

The case for and against

Levine Cava, who urged commissioners to adopt the increase during the September budget hearings, said the extra revenue will help keep more buses running. "We'll be able to restore night service and also full routes," she said, according to WSVN. In the county's release, she said "every dollar matters for working families."

Stacy L. Miller, the county's transportation director, said in the release that the department heard riders' concerns and "took them seriously," and that "these restorations will help keep our community connected."

Gilbert, the sponsor, told colleagues he had ridden the last bus himself and framed the vote around riders who depend on the first and last trips of the day, WSVN reported.

Riders who spoke during public comment were split. One Metrorail commuter told commissioners that two rides a day would add up to "an additional $240 per year," according to WSVN. Others defended the system the fare will support. "We need it. It's the bloodline of our cities," rider Tyrone Cason said, according to WSVN.

WLRN noted that the increase will not by itself resolve the transportation department's budget problems, which stem from rising operating costs.

Metromover may end free rides

Alongside the fare vote, commissioners directed the Levine Cava administration to develop a proposal for charging riders on the Metromover, the automated people mover that circulates through downtown Miami and Brickell. Commissioner Raquel Regalado said the goal would be a fare of $1 plus the cost of collecting it, WSVN reported.

The Metromover remains free for now. Any fare would require a separate vote by the commission after the mayor presents her plan.

How Miami-Dade got here

Miami-Dade last raised its base transit fare in 2013. The 50-cent increase amounts to roughly 22 percent.

Levine Cava proposed the same increase a year ago, but commissioners rejected it during the 2025 budget process, and Commission Chairman Anthony Rodriguez won support to tap a reserve fund for future transit projects to cover the gap instead. This year, as commissioners worked through a $14.3 billion budget, the administration returned to the fare increase as the main way to pay for bus service the budget otherwise could not afford.

What's next

• November 2026: Route 132 ends in the county's scheduled service change.
• Jan. 1, 2027: Metrobus and Metrorail base fare rises to $2.75.
• March 2027: Remaining route eliminations and after-10 p.m. reductions on 16 routes take effect, while the restored routes and late-evening corridors continue.
• To be scheduled: The mayor's Metromover fare proposal returns to the commission for a separate vote.

Riders can check route-by-route changes with the Department of Transportation and Public Works, which typically publishes details ahead of each service change.