Md. MTA audit finds budget gap, fuel overpayments

BALTIMORE, Md. — A state audit has found that bus, light rail and other transit fares will have to increase by more than the planned 10 cents this year for the Maryland Transit Authority (MTA) to come close to having passengers pay at least 35% of the cost of the system, the City Paper reported.

One major issue the audit found was the MTA effectively paid double for fueling its paratransit fleet, by including fuel costs in the hourly payment and then paying again for fuel separately. The overpayments totaled about $10 million. The 35-page audit by the legislative auditor comes on the heels of a special report about apparent fraud at the MTA. For the full story, click here.