Sound Transit Board of Directors Thursday approved a one-dollar fare to ride Tacoma Link starting in September 2014, then increase to $1.50 in September 2016. Youth riders will pay a fare of 75 cents, while senior and disabled riders will pay 50 cents to ride Tacoma Link in 2014, with an increase to 75 cents in 2016.

Riders will pay their fare by tapping their ORCA cards on reader machines at station platforms or purchasing a pass or ticket at ticket vending machines. ORCA cards can be purchased and loaded at orcacard.com, transit customer service offices or at any ticket vending machine. In an effort to reduce the impact of charging fares to low-income populations, Sound Transit will make available discounted transit tickets and passes to human services agencies in Pierce County.

According to Sound Transit officials, the fare will help fund the system’s operation.

To read the Tacoma Daily Index‘s complete and comprehensive coverage of a decade of downtown Tacoma’s Link light rail, click on the following links:

• Sound Transit considers fares for downtown Tacoma’s free Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, September 12, 2013)
• Sound Transit celebrates 10 years of Tacoma Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, August 23, 2013)
• Sound Transit Board selects corridor for potential Tacoma Link expansion (Tacoma Daily Index, May 23, 2013)
• Tacoma City Council to continue Link light rail expansion discussion (Tacoma Daily Index, April 12, 2013)
• Tacoma City Council to discuss community colleges, Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, February 22, 2013)
• Sound Transit reports record ridership in 2012 (Tacoma Daily Index, February 8, 2013)
• Tacoma City Council to discuss Link light rail, economic development (Tacoma Daily Index, February 8, 2013)
• Learn more about Tacoma Link light rail expansion (Tacoma Daily Index, February 1, 2013)
• Tacoma City Council to discuss Tacoma Link expansion, UWT Prairie Line Trail (Tacoma Daily Index, January 18, 2013)
• Tacoma LINK light rail expansion open house Dec. 5 (Tacoma Daily Index, November 26, 2012)
• Puget Sound Regional Council: Pierce Transit vanpools, Tacoma LINK light rail expansion could receive $481K (Tacoma Daily Index, November 9, 2012)
• Sound Transit reports record ridership; increase includes Tacoma Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, November 2, 2012)
• Share your ideas for Link light rail expansion in Tacoma (Tacoma Daily Index, August 20, 2012)
• Year In Review: Commerce Street Link Station (Tacoma Daily Index, December 23, 2011)
• Cost overruns approved for LINK Commerce Street Station (Tacoma Daily Index, October 12, 2011)
• Tacoma, Sound Transit officially open new downtown Link station (Tacoma Daily Index, September 29, 2011)
• Link light rail station dedication ceremony Sept. 29 (Tacoma Daily Index, September 23, 2011)
• New downtown Tacoma Commerce Street Link station open (Tacoma Daily Index, September 15, 2011)
• New Link light rail stations open Thursday (Tacoma Daily Index, September 12, 2011)
• New Link station artwork honors Tacoma’s rail history (Tacoma Daily Index, September 1, 2011)
• Tacoma Link to run late on Wednesday (Tacoma Daily Index, June 28, 2011)
• Downtown Tacoma’s new link light rail stations could open in July (Tacoma Daily Index, June 16, 2011)
• Tacoma City Council discusses Link light rail expansion Tuesday (Tacoma Daily Index, March 28, 2011)
• Next stop for downtown Link light rail? 11th and Commerce (Tacoma Daily Index, March 23, 2011)
• Tacoma City Council votes today on new Link light rail stations (Tacoma Daily Index, March 22, 2011)
• Artists sought for new downtown Tacoma Link light rail station (Tacoma Daily Index, February 22, 2011)
• Free Passage: Sound Transit holds off on charging for downtown Link light rail service (Tacoma Daily Index, October 19, 2010)
• Sound Transit board approves new downtown Link station proposal (Tacoma Daily Index, September 27, 2010)
• Revenue slump looms over Sound Transit 2011 budget; fee to ride downtown Tacoma Link proposed(Tacoma Daily Index, September 24, 2010)
• City Council approves plan for Link light rail station (Tacoma Daily Index, September 20, 2010)
• Key City Hall vote Tuesday for new LINK light rail station (Tacoma Daily Index, September 13, 2010)
• Plan adds new downtown Link light rail stop by next spring (Tacoma Daily Index, August 31, 2010)
• City Hall presentation Tuesday on new downtown Tacoma Link light rail stop (Tacoma Daily Index, August 30, 2010)
• Sound Transit Board approves fare hikes (Tacoma Daily Index, April 22, 2010)
• City envisions Link light rail station near 11th Street (Tacoma Daily Index, January 8, 2010)
• Construction will temporarily close Tacoma Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, July 28, 2009)
• Sound Transit reports commuter rail second quarter record ridership (Tacoma Daily Index, July 22, 2008)
• Sound Transit reports continued increase in ridership (Tacoma Daily Index, May 12, 2008)
• Sound Transit ridership increases 12.3 percent (Tacoma Daily Index, March 11, 2008)
• Sound Transit board adopts plan for regional light rail expansions (Tacoma Daily Index, May 25, 2007)
• City examines Sound Transit 2 projects (Tacoma Daily Index, January 19, 2006)
• Tacoma, Sound Transit plan transportation future (Tacoma Daily Index, September 16, 2005)
• Sound Transit requests second-phase regional transportation goals from city (Tacoma Daily Index, July 14, 2005)
• One Million Served: Tacoma Link light rail celebrates milestone ridership (Tacoma Daily Index, December 8, 2004)
• City celebrates debut of Tacoma Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, August 26, 2003)
• A Link to Tacoma’s future . . . and past (Tacoma Daily Index, August 19, 2003)
• Link celebration a little over a week away (Tacoma Daily Index, August 14, 2003)
• Safety stressed as Link light rail’s first run approaches (Tacoma Daily Index, July 23, 2003)
• Sound Transit begins Tacoma Link light rail systems test (Tacoma Daily Index, June 19, 2003)
• Link light rail slated to begin in August (Tacoma Daily Index, June 17, 2003)
• Final track section welded into place for Link light rail (Tacoma Daily Index, April 8, 2003)
• Tacoma Link light rail car on display in Seattle (Tacoma Daily Index, January 21, 2003)
• Tacoma Link cars on display (Tacoma Daily Index, December 17, 2002)
• They’re here: Tacoma Link light rail vehicles arrive (Tacoma Daily Index, September 4, 2002)
• Tacoma Link vehicles to arrive over Labor Day weekend (Tacoma Daily Index, August 29, 2002)
• Tacoma Link light rail vehicles are coming (Tacoma Daily Index, July 26, 2002)
• Link construction to close downtown intersection (Tacoma Daily Index, July 11, 2002)
• Tacoma Link update this Friday (Tacoma Daily Index, May 7, 2002)
• Another milestone in Tacoma Link construction (Tacoma Daily Index, April 10, 2002)
• Placement ceremony heralds Tacoma Link rail project (Tacoma Daily Index, December 12, 2001