As more of the D.C. region gets vaccinated, Metro’s board of directors is looking toward the future — and for a way to coax riders back to the system.

That will likely involve a hard look at WMATA’s fare policy.

During the transit authority’s bi-monthly board meeting Thursday, four board members voiced support for a flurry of proposals that would simplify or reduce rail fees, including lower fares and eliminating rush hour peak pricing. Board member Michael Goldman of Maryland proposed “bold, persistent experimentation.”

“I think we need to give our riders some incentives to return to the system,” Goldman said. “We cannot continue to operate a rail system at 15% of pre-COVID ridership levels… nor can we even be satisfied with a system that’s projected at 34% of pre-COVID levels by June 2022.”

“I think we need to get riders back on the rails and not staying home, not driving to work… because that is an option,” Goldman said.

He wants Metro to look at eliminating the peak fare system, which charges more for rail rides between 5-9:30 a.m and 3-7 p.m. Peak fares can cost between $2.25 to $6 depending on how far riders travel, compared to the $2-$2.85 charged during non-peak hours. Many transit advocates have called for eliminating the peak fare during the pandemic since there was no “peak” level of service.

Goldman also voiced support for reducing the rail system’s base fare price to $2 all day and reducing the maximum distance-based fare from $6 to $3.85, which would be beneficial for riders in far-flung suburbs.

Part of that plan includes simplifying the rail system’s distance-based pricing, which varies by station. Instead of the current system, Goldman suggested implementing $2 trips within D.C., $3 trips within the Beltway, and $3.85 for all other trips, like to the outer reaches of the Silver Line and Red Line.

Finally, Goldman suggested free or reduced daily parking rates at Metro stations across the region. Parking costs vary by station. The simplified fare structure and parking idea should be a pilot from Labor Day to Thanksgiving, he said.

“That should be a big incentive to riders generally, and it also should be a big help to our essential riders who have been forced, if they travel at peak periods, to [pay] for these higher rail fares to get to their essential service jobs,” Goldman said.

Stephanie Gidigbi-Jenkins of D.C. also strongly advocated for eliminating the cost of transferring from bus to rail, which she said is a fare and equitable move. The idea was already supposed to happen before it was nixed during the pandemic. She hopes it comes back.

Matt Letourneau of Virginia agreed with the need to offer riders some financial incentives.

“It’s been no secret that I’ve been interested in all sorts of fare ideas, such as family passes,” Letourneau said, adding, “I think the (existing) peak versus non-peak scenario doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

But he urged the board to hold off on modifying fares until WMATA finalizes its fiscal year 2022 budget, and until major employers finalize decisions about when how to get back to the office.

“The more intelligence we have on all that, the better,” he said.

The board’s discussion comes as leaders of some localities call for free fares to attract riders back to the system. (Metro didn’t charge fare for bus riders from March through Jan. 3, when it had back-door boarding.) Other local leaders say better reliability and increased service, with trains coming every three to four minutes and buses running more frequently, will help revitalize ridership.

Fare revenue traditionally only pays for about 38% of Metro’s operating budget, with Metrorail fares comprising the bulk of the fare revenue. The rest of Metro’s budget is made up of local, state, and federal subsidies.

“I think the revenue loss, if there is any revenue loss at all, is minimal,” Goldman said of his proposed fare reductions. “And even if it were $50 million, which is highly unlikely, it seems to me it’s worth the effort,” he said.

General Manager Paul Wiedefeld, for his part, did not sound enthusiastic about the idea.

“From a technical perspective, yes, we could (produce a report on the idea),” Wiedefeld said on Thursday. “I think it’s obviously a policy decision for the board if they choose to go that way.”

Ridership has slowly ticked up in recent weeks but still remains at historic lows, with about 85% of usual riders staying off the rail system and roughly 60% of usual bus riders staying home.

Meanwhile, Metro will receive $714 million from the latest congressional COVID-19 relief package, which will help it avoid the doomsday cuts proposed last year.

About $625 million will go toward operating costs, more than covering last year’s $209 million budget hole. Metro will refund about $89 million to localities that were asked to pay more during the lean times.

“We heard from more than 25,000 people how important affordable and frequent transit is to them, and we will consider those comments carefully as we determine how to allocate the remaining federal support to meet the region’s mobility needs in the coming year and beyond,” board chair Paul Smedberg said in a statement.

Under the transit authority’s current budget proposal, from July 2021 to June 2022, service will remain below pre-COVID levels. Rail will have about 80% of the service it did before the pandemic while bus will have about 85%.

Trains would run until 11 p.m. every day at the following schedule:

• Every 12 minutes on weekdays (every six minutes on the Red Line)
• Every 15 minutes on weekends (every 12 minutes on the Red Line)
• Every 20 minutes after 7 p.m. every day on all lines.

Metrobus service would continue with current service and some improvements on certain lines. For instance, 34 bus routes would extend later in the night until 2 a.m. Other routes would see more service. (A full list can be found here.)

Some riders questioned whether that would be enough service once “normal” life resumes, though Wiedefeld has said Metro will examine service levels each quarter and make service adjustments accordingly.

Metro also plans to open the long-delayed Silver Line extension sometime early in 2022.

“We are preparing to welcome back customers as part of a return to normalcy, and welcome new customers who have long awaited the convenience of the Silver Line and new stations serving their communities and workplaces,” Wiedefeld said. “I am especially looking forward to beginning rail service to Dulles Airport as people resume travel to and from the nation’s capital as one of the great destinations in this country.”

Later in 2022, the new Potomac Yard station between the Reagan National Airport station and Braddock Road is also set to open.

WMATA’s finance committee approved those plans, wrapped into the fiscal year 2022 budget, on Thursday. The full board will vote on the $4.7 billion operating and capital budget on April 22.