This is a question being posed to Alders by the Mayor for this year’s budget. Actually, the members of the Transit and Parking Commission are the only ones that can raise the fares, but they will get kicked off the Transit and Parking Commission if they don’t raise them, so essentially, they have to raise them if it ends up in the Mayor’s budget and the Council passes it.
This 50 cents raise in fares would raise $650,000 for the City. That’s out of the $40M Metro budget (see page 2). Currently, we get $1,268,490 from the fare box (see page 4 under “other sources”). And tax payers only pay for 25% of the service that Metro does, the rest comes from the other sources listed.
In thinking about this problem, I decided to look at our “peer cities”. These cities are the cities that have the bus systems most like our own. Here is what their fares are:
$1 – Capital District Transit Authority in Albany
$1.50 – Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority in Dayton
$1.25 – Connecticut Transit in Hartford
$1.50 – Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation in Indianapolis
$1.25 – Metro Area Transit in Omaha
$1.75 – Rhode Island Public Transit Authority in Providence
$1 – Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority in Rochester
$1 – Spokane Transit Authority in Spokane
$1 – Central New York Regional Transportation Authority in Syracuse
$1.50 – Pierce County Public Transportation Benefit Area in Tacoma
$1 – Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority in Toledo
So, the $2 appears to be as out of whack with the other systems as I thought it might be. There has to be a better way for Madison Metro to be funded. We all know that would be a Regional Transit Authority, but that still comes from the taxpayers. So I’m confused, if we want an RTA to tax people for the bus service, why can’t we tax people now for the bus service instead of raising the fares?
I asked a few people how this would impact their ridership. And it seems that psychologically, $2 is a bit of a barrier to even those who can afford it. One person told me that they would walk (downtown) instead unless it was really cold or raining. So, I wonder, how many choice riders would we lose if it goes up this much? And more importantly, how will this impact low-income people who are dependent on Madison Metro?
Additionally, and this is the kicker, many riders I know have passes paid by their employers, so they really aren’t affected. These are many of the same riders that really, really, really want the number 10 bus back. So, the Mayor is offering to restore the number 10 bus in exchange for raising the fares. And, he’s offering to give more money to the Transit for Jobs program.
Other suggestions I have heard in response to this proposal might be to have express buses and charge more for them. Charge an increased fare during peak commuter times. I advocate for a reduced price monthly pass for low-income people. And there is a major outstanding question, how will this impact the School budget?
Anyways, the conversation is just getting started and we won’t know what he does in his budget until the first Tuesday in October, but it’s something to start thinking about.
