Losing $2.50-$3.00 per ride?
So raise the fare.
Is math that hard?
Oh, that’s right. It’s only money when you sign your name to the back of a check....
Not that easy. Ridership is low because the ticket prices are already a poor value. Raising prices will reduce demand more than increase revenue.
When I was in the Bay Area I lived a few blocks from the VTA station, and my office was a few blocks from the station at the other end. My employer in their progressive wisdom even offered subsidized passes so that the cost to me to use the light rail was almost zero. I still wouldn’t use the system because it wasn’t worth it to me to spend and hour each way riding when I could drive it in about 15 minutes. An hour and a half of my life is worth far more than the cost of driving a few miles each way.