It might still be too early to tell, but it’s beginning to look like the opponents of last February’s bus fare increase were right all along. The numbers show Metro ridership has been decreasing steadily in the months since the rate hike went into effect.

Over the summer ridership dropped roughly 5 percent per month. In contrast, during 2008 and the early part of this year ridership was steadily increasing at about 5 percent. Now advocates for the rate hike are claiming everything is A-OK. The most prominent cheerleader for the fare increase — which added 50 cents to a regular ticket for a new fare of $2 — was Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. He and others point to increased revenues since April when the increase went into effect.

One must wonder if these people really understand what public transportation is supposed to achieve. Madison Metro is not supposed to be profit-driven, balancing prices to squeeze the most revenue out of its riders. Rather, the objective is to provide a service to people who have no other means of transportation and to those who might be tempted by the feel-good reward of building a greener city. With that in mind, any decrease in ridership would be a defeat for proponents of the fare hike.

These results shouldn’t surprise anyone. After looking at national data and the results of similar rate hikes in other cities, the Transit and Parking Commission shot down the proposal by Cieslewicz and a majority of City Council representatives last December. The reasons cited were concerns about negative impact on ridership, especially among the city’s poorer population, for which an extra 50 cents over the course of weeks and months aggregates to a substantial chunk of their household budget. But Cieslewicz wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.

Cieslewicz, more so than most politicians, has a very low tolerance for debate and the opposing viewpoints of city officials. He called the vote irresponsible and prompted one member of the commission to resign. “I’m not willing to change my mind on the fare increase,” Cieslewicz announced as he encouraged the City Council to take the unusual step of overruling the TPC.

Despite widespread public outcry and passionate testimony of some 50 community members, Cieslewicz succeeded in his efforts. In a politically charged vote, the City Council voted 11-8 in favor of the rate hike this past February.

Seemingly embittered by the dedicated opposition of certain City Council and TPC members, Cieslewicz opted to clean house. First he targeted Brenda Konkel, the former District 2 alder, by campaigning for his handpicked prot?g? Bridget Maniaci. Konkel had long been a critic of Cieslewicz’s autocratic manner of running City Hall. Like many concerned residents, Konkel enjoyed public debate about city issues and took the mayor to task on a number of issues, including the fare increase. Despite a very close vote, Konkel lost the race, succumbing in part to the opposition Cieslewicz conjured against his fiercest critic.

Shortly after dispatching Konkel, the mayor removed his major critics from various city commissions. One of his victims was Carl DuRocher, a TPC member who had actively opposed Cieslewicz’s fare increase proposal. A disabled man, DuRocher was daily affected by the city’s transit policies and had worked on related issues for more than 20 years. He had been a member of the TPC since its creation in 1999, earning him invaluable experience and insight on public transportation in Madison. Nonetheless, he was denied reappointment by a mayor whose motives were transparently political.

In a reflection of his views on the democratic process, Cieslewicz asked citizens on his blog, “Why should I be expected to appoint people who disagree with me on some of my most important policy initiatives to committees that could stand in the way of those initiatives?” Clearly, this guy was never in debate club.

When the mayor can’t find it in himself to even debate a proposal with direct negative effects on the community, in the midst of an unprecedented economic crisis, it’s not too much to say that he doesn’t care about poor people. But in politics, it is never too late to redeem yourself. If the mayor can find $16 million of tax-payer money to throw at the Edgewater hotel renovation, maybe he can find the funds to support the Madison Metro.

Contrary to the predictions of fare hike advocates a year ago, gas prices have dropped and remained steady. As ridership continues to decline and the employment and housing markets continue to sour, there is little doubt a decrease in fares would benefit thousands of Madison residents. Forget debate. Since the mayor can claim it was his idea either way, now is as good a time as ever to reverse the fare increase.

Sam Stevenson ([email protected]) is a graduate student in public health.