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Tuesday, 31 October 2006 16:29 |
By DAVID FORBES
Riders on the Asheville transit system will pay $1 per trip when the current free ride period ends on Nov. 13, but new, heavily discounted monthly and annual passes will be available ÇƒÓ and the system will operate for an additional hour, following City Councilës approval of the changes on Oct. 24.
The new per trip rate represents an increase of a quarter over the old, pre-free ride rate. While that change, requested by the cityës transit commission, was approved unanimously, discounted rates of $15 for a monthly pass and $120 for a new annual pass triggered more debate, and passed 4-3.
The hour extension passed unanimously.
The cost of the total changes is estimated at approximately $105,000 in additional subsidy from the cityës coffers.
Proponents of
the new passes said that they will be helpful in maintaining some of
the 60 percent increase in ridership that the cityës bus system has
seen since the ride-for-free period started in August.
"If youëre in a
community that has reached the size where it needs a transit system,
but you also want it to accomplish other goals such as improving air
quality, congestion and bringing people downtown, then it makes sense
to look at what we do to encourage people to ride it," Councilman
Brownie Newman said. "Weëve had this great increase in ridership and
the hope is that by creating this really attractive package, especially
the monthly pass, weëre encouraging people to use the transit system on
a more frequent basis."
But those who
opposed the measure asserted that the new passes are discounted too
much ÇƒÓ and that will only grow the amount of the subsidy the city has
to provide.
"I think thatës
too low ÇƒÓ $120 doesnët even represent half of a year," Mayor Terry
Bellamy said. "I just think thatës not enough."
Councilmen Carl Mumpower and Jan Davis also opposed the new rates for the monthly and annual passes.
"In my time in
business, Iëve never seen volume make up for dollars," Davis said.
"You can carry a lot of people, but youëre not going to increase
revenue that way."
In contrast,
Councilman Bryan Freeborn said that the discounts are needed to make
the monthly and annual passes attractive ÇƒÓ a move he asserts will have
other benefits.
"If you look at
the way we have it now, you have to ride almost every day to make the
monthly pass a deal," Freeborn said. "But if you take the price to $15,
someone only has to ride the bus 15 times in a month to make it a deal.
Businesses can now get their employeesë monthly passes ÇƒÓ that frees up
customer parking. For a lot of employers, this becomes an incentive.
Our current monthly pass doesnët offer that."
Furthermore,
Freeman added, building ridership and improving the system is "crucial
to getting the sort of system where weëll get a choice rider from Haw
Creek who can ride the bus and be downtown in 15 minutes or walk out of
their office and get back home. At that time, weëll be able to
implement a fare system thatës more about cost recovery. But at this
point we have to get our numbers up."
In reply, Davis
noted that he had "gotten some heat from people for supporting the free
rides and I said that ǃÚI really believe we need to improve our transit
system and we need longer hours.ë But Iëd really like to see accurate,
good figures at the end of this period. I know thereës a feeling that
some sort of critical mass has been achieved. But I have a little bit
of a problem with such a drop ÇƒÓ I donët think thatës quite fair. That
seems awfully low."
Originally, city
staff had proposed the idea of keeping fares at 75 cents after the
ride-free period ended and adding a $1 day pass, but Transit Commission
Chair Karen Armstrong noted in remarks before the votes that the
commission had voted unanimously against those options and for an
increase to $1 per trip. They also unanimously voted in favor of the
hour extension and the new monthly and annual pass rates.
"It is our
belief that increasing single-trip fares to $1 will reduce the
incidents of what we call ǃÚnuisance ridersë or ǃÚproblem riders,ë"
Armstrong said. "Itës been demonstrated that even if you charge a
nickel, it reduces the number of folks who just get on because they
have nothing better to do."
She added
however, that as someone who usually rides the bus daily "there havenët
been that many of those folks in the 90-day free ride period."
Meanwhile,
Dwight Butner, owner of Vincenzoës Ristorante and a member of the
Downtown
Commission, said that he feels that the new fare proposals and
extended hours were a step in the right direction.
"I totally
endorse the additional hour of service," Butner said. "Itës going to
help reach a broader customer base. This makes solid business sense too
and we appreciate this. I want you to know that Iëll probably be buying
passes for my employees now."
Earlier, Transit
Authority Director Bruce Black said that the increase in ridership
during the free period has "exceeded our most optimistic expectations"
and that his staff "expects a substantial increase no matter what
happens with fares."
He added that
the complaints of nuisance riders had gone from one complaint every
2,000 trips at the beginning of the free ride period to one complaint
per 7,000 trips due to tighter security measures.
Later, Mumpower noted that the total amount of the subsidy for the transit system was beginning to worry him.
"Weëre looking
at $5 of subsidy now for every $1 of revenue," Mumpower said. "Thereës
a point of reality there where weëre just oversubsidizing something."
In response,
Vice Mayor Holly Jones said that another way to look at the increasing
subsidy is as an investment in the future of the transit system.
"It is money,
but the tradeoff is what we decide as a community, and as policy
makers, makes sense ÇƒÓ and what we need to do for the future," Jones
said.
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