Port Authority management today recommended a 25-cent increase in base fares and other proportional across-the-board fare increases, effective Jan. 1.

The Administration and Finance Committee approved the changes that the full, nine-member board is expected to ratify at its monthly meeting next week.

The 14 percent increase will raise the base cash fare from the current $1.75 to $2 in Zone 1, which covers most rides and encompasses an area extending 8 miles from Downtown. It will be the first fare hike since September 2002.

Zone 1 monthly passes will jump 25 percent, from the current $60 to $75, but authority officials said that monthly passes still represent a significant savings over cash fares for daily commuters, the biggest users.

Riders who buy annual passes receive the 12th month free and, if they buy annual passes by Dec. 7, they can get them at the current rates for unlimited rides on buses, trolleys and both inclines through all of next year.

The "free zone" that covers bus and light-rail trips within the Golden Triangle will remain unchanged, as will 50-cent transfers.

The 25-cent increase in the Zone 1 base fare is well below the $2.50 level that had been proposed and discussed as part of nine public hearings held in January.

The Port Authority's tentative approval of higher fares came one day after the Westmoreland County Transit Authority's board approved a 24 percent fare hike for most of its 23 routes, the first fare hike since 1992.

The cash fare for a one-way trip from Greensburg to Pittsburgh will be increased from the current $3.75 to $4.50 starting Feb. 4, while the one-way trip from the Irwin area to the city will go to $3, from $2.50.