San Diego

A $2 increase in the cost of a monthly trolley pass was tentatively approved Thursday at a public hearing held by the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB). A second public hearing is scheduled for May 23, when the board is expected to hold its final vote on the proposed increase from $36 to $38. If approved then, it will take effect July 1.

The increase is “simply a matter of the trolley keeping up with inflation,” MTDB chairman Dick Murphy said. Murphy said he doubts the increase will affect ridership because “it is a modest increase. . . . We didn’t increase the fares last year. . . . The goal of the San Diego Trolley is to . . . recover 100% of our operating costs.”