El Metro may soon be raising their fares again.
Its news some may not want to hear, but a reality they may soon face if city officials approve the proposed hike this coming Tuesday.
Pro 8 News has learned that a public hearing to be held at Tuesdays city council meeting will ultimately determine if the rates will increase.
But many who use the bus frequently say they didn't even know about the proposal ... much less a public hearing.
Still others say unfortunately city leaders wouldn't even care about what they have to say.
“In a week I spend 12 dollars.”
Days of spending 12 dollars a week to ride the bus may be in the past.
And no, it won't be getting any less expensive as rates for El metro are set to increase if council gives their final approval Tuesday.
The proposal from the public transit system is set to include a 25 cent increase across the board bring fares up to 1-50 for adults and 35 cents for senior citizens.
“It may not sound like much but 35 cents means allot to them because they're on a fixed income,” says Bill Koehn.
Laredo has some of the highest fares in the state compared to cities like mcallen where adults ride for a dollar, students and the elderly only 50 cents, and transfers are free.
Some cities like Austin and San Antonio offer monthly passes where, for a flat rate, a passenger can take unlimited rides.
El Metro does not.
Some students here say they cant believe the proposal and a 25 cent increase while it may be small will be unbearable.
“Its already a dollar we come and go you're spending two dollars here you have to come and go once twice a day that's six or seven dollars.”
And the proposal includes more bad news for people who need a transfer to get from one part of town to another.
El metro is hoping to eliminate transfers altogether.
“If they remove the transfers I'm gonna have a difficult time right now I'm spending 1-05 with a transfer I'm gonna end up spending 10 dollars a day,” says TAMIU student Cesar Sanchez.
And while many say they will speak out against the changes at Tuesday's meetings, others wonder is council will even listen.
“If they really want to save money there's allot of places we are very top heavy in the management we have a lot of chiefs and very few Indians.”
We asked representatives of El metro to give a comment on the proposal, they declined an on camera interview and said they would rather speak after council's decision.
They did not give a reason for the fare hike.
That public hearing a vote on the issue is expended to take place at Tuesdays city council meeting.