OCTA to Consider Free Rail Transfers to L.A. Subway

More than 300 rail commuters may get a break Monday if transportation officials approve free transfer privileges between the Orange County Transportation Authority’s commuter train and the Metro Rail Red Line subway in downtown Los Angeles.

Responding to passengers’ protests, the OCTA board is expected on Monday to approve an agreement to reimburse the Southern California Rapid Transit District from $1,707 to nearly $5,000 a month for lost revenue on the free transfers. The transfers, which now cost 25 cents, may increase in price in the next few months.

If approved, the free transfers will be available to all 595 current monthly rail pass purchasers as of April 1. About 325 passengers from OCTA’s commuter train are estimated to be potential Red Line users once they arrive in Los Angeles.

Since OCTA doesn’t have authority over Amtrak tickets, purchasers of Amtrak’s 10-trip, round-trip or one-way tickets must still pay transfer fees, OCTA officials said.

Earlier this month, more than 360 passengers from the Orange County Transportation Authority’s lone commuter train signed petitions protesting the transfer fee, which is not charged to passengers on Metrolink commuter trains from Los Angeles, Ventura and San Bernardino counties.

The petition also noted that Orange County commuters can take so-called Dash commuter buses for free from Union Station in downtown Los Angeles to their final destinations, and asked, “Why should the use of the Red Line be any different?”

The OCTA train, which inaugurated commuter rail service in Southern California nearly three years ago, makes one trip to Los Angeles each morning and a return trip to Orange County in the evening.