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The Port Authority of Allegheny County’s board last week approved plans to boost fares and change several services next year. The plans won’t reduce the overall level of service or eliminate any operating positions, according to the agency.

The Zone 1 base fare will remain at $2, but the Zone 2 base fare will increase from $2.60 to $2.75 beginning Jan. 1. The Pittsburgh authority initially proposed to hike the fare to $3.

In addition, the authority will phase in changes to 27 light-rail and bus services during the next two years. The first changes — which call for eliminating duplicate and underused routes to add trips and increase hours of operation on high-demand routes — will occur in March 2010.

The authority now will develop a timetable for implementing additional phased-in service changes.