Council unsure on fares
Officials at The Big Blue Bus want to raise fares across the board to pay for new expanded routes and an increased number of buses on the roads.
But the Santa Monica City Council may not go along with the idea.
The council last week approved a public hearing on the proposed fare increase for May 14. If the new fares are adopted, local bus riders would see an increase from 50 cents to 75 cents. Senior citizens would face a 10 cent increase, while students would pay 15 cents more.
Someone using the local bus service to commute to work five days a week would see an average increase of $10 a month in bus fares. Students would be charged $8 more a month and senior citizens would see $4 monthly increase.
“We’ll attract more riders by keeping it dirt-cheap.” — Ken Genser
Though council members approved the public hearing, many were skeptical of raising fares beyond the current rate.
“My sense is there is a real advantage to maintaining a 50-cent-fare,” said Councilman Another council member was concerned the increase would be detrimental to the segment of the city’s senior citizen population, which depends on the bus to get around town.
“Though these fare increases are modest, for someone on a fixed budget these increases can be substantial,” said Councilman Richard Bloom. “I think we need to keep that in mind while we debate this issue.”
Bus officials said at the same public hearing they are going to unveil a new unlimited bus and rail pass that can be used on any Los Angeles-area mass transit service for a $58 monthly fee.
“People are paying over $200 a month for a monthly parking space in downtown (Santa Monica), not to mention the high cost of insuring, maintaining and running a car,” said Councilman Bob Holbrook. “So even with the fare increase, the folks who use this service the most – which are commuters – would still be getting a great value.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 5, 2002. Read the original PDF.