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Residents decry bus fare increase
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Dozens of Dane County citizens spoke at a public hearing Monday night where they urged the Transit and Parking Commission consider alternatives to a bus fare increase.
The City Council voted to recommend an increase in bus fares on Madison Metro buses from $1.50 to $2 as part of the budget that passed two weeks ago.
After the City Council voted against proposed alternatives to the increase that were put together by Ald. Brian Solomon, District 10, and Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 12,
the ultimate decision to make the increase has been left up to the Transit and Parking Commission.
The public hearing was held in response to a number of objections brought about by the proposed increase. Financial pressures and public disapproval have created a voice for a more revenue-neutral plan.
The main argument for supporting the bus fare increase was that it provide more bus routes in areas that lack transportation.
The TPC put forth two options; one would only raise the cash fare to $1.75, while the other would maintain the proposed raise to $2.
Gene Gowey represented the Teamster Local Union and spoke in favor of the $1.75 raise, a proposal created by Lisa Subeck.
Subeck, representing herself and the YWCA, created the alternative to soften the blow that would be experienced by transit-dependent families in the event of a fare increase.
Subeck and other citizens said the proposed increase would hit low-income families the hardest, with many struggling to afford the current fares as it is.
“When they don’t have money for bus fares, they panhandle for it,” Subeck said. “These folks are making six-and-a-half, seven bucks an hour.”
Gowey said increasing the fare to $1.75 would be “beneficial to Madison and the community at large.”
Michelle Beesley, a budget analyst, spoke in favor of the increase. Beesley said many people can’t afford to lose Saturday and Sunday service, such as her husband, who has an eyesight handicap.
A large portion of the public comments opposed the proposal to increase the fares. Rhodes-Conway was concerned about working families and their reliance on the metro system. However, she also said choice riders are just as important to the system as dependent riders.
“If we are going to have a strong metro system, we need to have choice riders. We can’t just be a system that is serving transit-dependent riders — we also need to pull people onto the bus,” Rhodes-Conway said.
Rhodes-Conway and Solomon’s proposal contained a number of amendments removing some of the various increases in the Metro’s budget that had been in Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s base budget.
According to Chuck Kamp, a member of the TPC, the proposed fare increase would go into effect in March. He described the predicament as “the two forks”— either raising fares or cutting service.
Even with the two options, some citizens found little satisfaction with either.
“I guess I support option zero,” Madison resident Tim Wong said. “With a deep recession looming, is this the time to increase bus fares 33 percent?”
The TPC is scheduled to act on these proposals at its meeting Dec. 9.
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Although this is a good report by and large, I want to correct a few errors (while probably missing others). One is that Lisa Subeck suggested a low-income rate of $1.25, not $1.75. $1.75 is what Metro has estimated to be required not to cut service more than it already has. The $2.00 hike would go beyond that, according to the assumptions of revenue made by Metro that Rhodes-Conway and others have questioned.
Second, a main argument for supporting a $2.00 fare is service enhancements. Such enhancements would not just mean new routes or added lines to existing routes, but added security at bus stops and transfer points. The issue of security, in fact, has loomed larger than that of simply adding more bus routes.
Third, Gene Gowey spoke before Lisa Subeck so was not in any position to endorse her proposal. Rather, as Business Agent for Teamsters local 695, he supported a fare hike on behalf of all the transit workers at Metro.
Fourth, Chuck Kamp is not a member of the Transit and Parking Commission. He is Metro’s General Manager and one of several Metro staff who were at the hearing.
Perhaps Teamsters local 695 should take a pay cut? That would allow lower fares.
Thanks for correcting the errors above. It is correct that my proposal involved a $1.25 fare for low-income riders along with a number of other fare adjustments to make up the lost revenue caused by the reduced fare. The Capital Times ran an article and a blog that reports a more accurate reflection of the meeting along with a lot more information in general. —Lisa