Beginning in November, it’s going to cost more to ride the bus.
The Pierce Transit board of commissioners voted Sept. 13 to increase regular adult fares by 25 cents, which means beginning Nov. 1, it will be $2 to catch a ride. Vanpool fees are also slated to increase.
For commuter vanpools with five and six riders, the increase will be $9 per rider per month. For pools of seven and eight, the increase will be $7 per rider per month. There is also a $5 per month increase per rider on pools of nine and 10, a $2 increase on pools of 11 and 12 and a $1 increase for pools of 13 and 14.
Regular adult fares were last increased in January 2009 and vanpool fares increased in October 2008.
In addition, Pierce Transit will begin charging for rides on Christmas and Thanksgiving, days which have been free.
Fares for seniors and the disabled will remain at their current rate.
Pierce Transit is in its third year of addressing impacts of sharp declines in sales tax revenue. The agency was one of the first entities to experience a layoff of personnel – a 5 percent reduction.
Other actions taken to date include: delaying or eliminating capital projects, reducing service by nearly 6 percent, and increasing regular adult fares in 2009.
Those actions combined with employee identified operational efficiencies have saved over $72 million.
In July, the board selected a plan to preserve service levels with the goal of providing financially sustainable public transportation that area residents value and use.
The board directed staff to put forward a ballot proposition for the Feb. 8 election to exercise the final 0.3 percent sales tax authority available to Pierce Transit to provide funding to meet current service demands.
The increase would amount to an extra 3 cents on every $10 purchase and would take the transit authority to its maximum taxing capacity.
Presently, Pierce Transit has a taxing authority of 0.6 percent.
The transit authority is trying to deal with a gap between revenue and expenditures that is expected to reach $68 million by 2012. Officials have said the transit authority receives approximately 70 percent of its funding through sales tax revenues.
