As fares for Metro buses and trains go up Thursday — with an increase of 25 cents per fare or $13 for monthly passes — you can rest assured that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is the recipient of a $40 billion windfall in taxes that you, the voter, approved in 2008, is pinching its own pennies and being modest with its salaries.

Let's take a look at recent job openings at the MTA:

The lowest-paid, salaried opening we found on this particular web page — for “senior inspector/general investigator” — starts at $59,726 and goes up to $89,578.

Next up, federal advocate: $70,931 to $106,386.

Remember, we're at the lower levels of this particular page of openings. Up at the top? Chief administrative services officer: A whopping $142,641 to $213,962 — that latter number being more than the governor of California's salary is budgeted for.

Check out this total list of MTA salaries.

So while grandma is bummed that her monthly Metro pass is going to cost her a lunch or two, don't worry, Metro is clearly humble about how it doles out that dough.

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