As we mentioned in a past post, the fare increases on buses, vanpools, and DART are necessary to pay for current service levels and not new service. This move also puts Community Transit’s adult local fare on par with other transit agencies. The new adult fare will be $2; Pierce Transit also charges $2 and Metro charges $2.25 for non-peak and $2.50 for peak-hour local service.
Raising fares helps Community Transit:
- Keep pace with cost increases, including fuel prices, wages, benefits, and inflation.
- Pay for approximately 21 percent of the cost of riding the bus. This means 79 percent of each trip is subsidized by sales taxes, grants and other revenue.
The State Legislature convenes Jan. 14 and may consider ways to fund transit this session. Community Transit will be asking for direct funding, or the ability to take a measure to local voters to authorize additional funding for the agency. After cutting 37 percent of our bus service since 2010, we want to do the best job we can of providing the transit service our customers want. Fare increases help keep pace with inflation, but don’t give us the financial room to bring back Sunday service nor add trips where many people want them.
We recently updated our six-year plan forecasting our financial revenues and service levels in the near-term future. The report asserts the same point as last year— we are still waiting for a strong economic recovery and sales tax revenues. We encourage you to review our Transit Development Plan, 2013-18 and participate in the public comment period which is now underway.
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You're comparing your fare increase to Metro and Pierce Transit?!? Metros has a larger network and LONGER hours 7 days a week. They have nightowl services too. You guys start @ 6 and end @ 9. 6 days a week. Not to mention your system has similar routing like pre 2002. What used to be direct services to certain locations now takes not 1 not 2 but 3 buses to get to AND if I have a location in the NORTHEAST Part of say Lynnwood. I have to go Southwest to make a convenient transfer. Fortunately my daily dependability relies on ST so I have to pay 3.50. Whether I ride ET Metro or my only CT used bus Swift. But right now you guys just keep making ppl think they'd be better investing in a car. Totally contradicting your pro environment campaign
ReplyDeleteI saw the bus plus bus book and it shows you have added new commuter trips but I also noticed some trips are missing....did you add service or cut service? where there any more drivers added to drive this so-called new service?
ReplyDeleteWe are adding 30 commuter trips on Feb. 18. As explained in Bus Plus, we applied for and received a grant to fund these trips. We are not cutting service this year. Can you explain which trips you say are missing? We are hiring several drivers this year, partly to operate this new service and partly to ensure we have enough drivers to operate the service we have scheduled.
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