DeKalb residents will have a chance to weigh in on MARTA’s proposed budget, which includes fare increases and schedule changes, at a public hearing scheduled for tonight.

“The economy is not doing well and there is less sales tax coming in. We have to make the company leaner,” said DeKalb MARTA Board of Directors member Keith Adams. “We are trying to make changes as painless as possible without cutting vital services.”

MARTA has a proposed 2010 budget of $787 million — $399 million for operations and $388 million for capital projects.

The proposal also calls for a 25-cent increase in the base fare of a bus trip; increased time between buses and trains on several routes in DeKalb County; and even the elimination of some weekend routes.

Some major planned changes include: buses along Lavista Road will be 50 minutes apart rather than 45 minutes, southbound buses will leave Brookhaven Station at 6:25 a.m. rather than 5:25 a.m.; and the elimination of Bus Route 24, along Belvedere Drive in Atlanta on the weekends.

Under the proposed budget, all train service will end at midnight.

Chamblee resident Patricia Dickens said she would rather see fare increases than service cuts.

The 64-year-old uses MARTA as her sole means of transportation.

“That would be a catastrophe,” she said of cutting routes and changing services. “I know I’m not only one who uses MARTA all the time. I would say raise the price rather than cut routes.”

The MARTA budget public hearing is set for tonight at 7 p.m. in the Maloof Auditorium at 1300 Commerce Drive in downtown Decatur.