Rob Varela / Star staff Passengers get off a Metrolink train at the Camarillo Metrolink station Wednesday evening. The train's operators say that rising costs of fuel are forcing them to propose higher ticket prices than had already been approved.

It's not just drivers feeling the pinch at the pump. Metrolink train commuters might soon feel the squeeze of fuel prices in the form of a fare increase.

A spiraling rise in the cost of train diesel — from $2.29 a gallon last year to $3.37 this month — has forced Metrolink to consider a fare increase.

A proposal to raise fares by 7.5 percent would cost the average rider about $15 a month or more, said Mary Travis, manager of the Metrolink and Intercity rail program for the Ventura County Transportation Commission.

Although the increase has not yet been approved, there really are few alternatives, said Denise Tyrrell, a Metrolink spokeswoman in Los Angeles. The higher fuel costs will add up to a $1.2 million expense for Metrolink, Tyrrell said. "We want to keep fares as affordable as possible, but we have to keep revenues in line with expenditures," she said.

About 45,000 people ride Metrolink daily, including 2,000 from Ventura County. The other five counties that are part of Metrolink's joint powers authority have transportation sales tax money they use to help offset some of the costs. Ventura County doesn't have that option, and service here is already considered too tight to cut, officials said.

Metrolink also has a policy of trying to maximize "fare box recovery." Rider fares now cover a little more than 50 percent of the costs — a high percentage for a public transportation system.

Keith Millhouse, a Moorpark councilman, member of the Ventura County Transportation Commission and vice chairman of the Metrolink board, said a fare increase is the best way to deal with rising fuel costs. "Unfortunately, there aren't many other options," Millhouse said.

The Metrolink board plans to hold a public hearing April 25 in Los Angeles on the proposed increase. The board will also consider changing discounted group travel fares and changing service on some lines.

In 2007, because of higher operating costs, the Metrolink board approved fare increases of 3.5 percent to take effect July 1, 2007, 2008 and 2009, according to Metrolink's Web site. Because of escalating fuel prices and other costs, the board is now proposing the fare increase of up to 7.5 percent — instead of the already approved 3.5 percent — to take effect July 1.

The news is just starting to filter down to riders, who have seen increased fares in each of the past four years.

It's not a make-or-break increase for Brian Buss, an engineer who commutes on the train daily from Simi Valley to Glendale. "I don't know what fuel prices have done since last summer," said Buss, who runs a Web site, LAPassenger.com, which alerts fellow Metrolink passengers through automatic e-mails and cell phone calls when there's a delay or some kind of accident on any line.

"My commute is fixed regardless of what gas prices do," he said. "I still see riding as cheaper than driving."

But Richard Michaels, a database developer in Los Angeles who created a Web site for the advocacy group Metrolink Riders Association, said the proposed fare increase is too much.

Trains are getting more crowded, but the past fare increases haven't come with added services, Michaels said. His group submitted a petition last year with about 750 names asking that the last raise, 3.5 percent, be stopped.

Metrolink could save money by ending weekend service, which has the lowest ridership and is not even offered in Ventura County, he said. According to Michaels, there's been a big push for weekend service on some lines, and that's added costs. Metrolink also has pushed too hard to increase the percentage of fare box recovery, Michaels said.

Commuter Sandy Ikeda agreed, calling the rate hike unfair and wrong-headed.

"Even at the high cost of gas, it will start making more sense to start driving again," Ikeda said.

Michael Custodio, who works for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office and commutes from Simi Valley to Los Angeles, only recently heard about the fare increase.

"It wasn't enough to make an impression on me," said Custodio, who spends $198 on a monthly Metrolink pass.

But Custodio, who has seen ridership grow since he started taking the train in the mid-1990s, said the increase should come with better service.

"It's packed," Custodio said. "With the fare increases, maybe they could consider an extra car or something."