AC Transit to Consider Deferring Planned Fare Hike

Bay City News Service — AC Transit's board of directors will meet Wednesday night to consider a staff proposal to defer a fare increase that had been slated to take effect July 1.

AC Transit, which provides bus service to 13 cities and surrounding areas in Alameda County and western Contra Costa County, raised fares from $2 to $2.10 in August 2011 and also endorsed a long term plan to increase fares by a total of 25 cents every five years.

That would have included a 15-cent bump to $2.25 this summer, but staff members now think that could be counterproductive because they project that a fare hike would result in a small drop in ridership and its revenues would also fall.

In contrast, staff members project that if they keep fares at their current level AC Transit will have a 3 percent increase in its revenues.

AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said the question of whether to defer the planned fare increase is probably the only fare-related measure the board will act upon on Wednesday night.

But he said the board also is considering additional options, such as eliminating paper transfers, which staff members say are abused and the source of conflicts between operators and riders, introducing a 1-day pass and a 7-day pass that would be reasonably priced and available primarily on Clipper Cards, and expanding the number of Clipper Card sales locations to make the card more accessible, particularly in low-income areas.

The proposed strategies are part of a package of proposals, including a comprehensive operations analysis that recommends that AC Transit focus its routes on key "trunk" corridors with the greatest potential for increasing ridership and reducing congestion.

Another service alternative under consideration is augmenting transbay service to San Francisco with an additional route along Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland.

AC Transit officials said they are considering the possibility of increasing transbay service in response to the capacity problems being experienced on BART's transbay trains, which have been operating at standing-room-only capacity.

They said the new fare strategies would have the additional benefit of reducing bus dwell times at bus stops by minimizing the use of cash and paper transfers to board buses.

Bus agency officials said that could make service more reliable, potentially luring more riders and subsequently increasing farebox revenue.

Alia Phelps of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a group which advocates for bus riders, said she hopes AC Transit's board will vote to lower fares, not just keep them at the current level.

Phelps said although several board members have pledged to support lower fares she's afraid that a majority might support a fare hike.

"Some directors treat AC Transit as if it were a business that needs to make a profit instead of a service for the community," she said.


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