Bus Fares

Few people in Southern California ride buses regularly out of choice. Bus riders usually don't have driver's licenses or can't afford a car or insurance. They need public transportation to get to and from work, school or the store. The Orange County Transportation Authority has proposed raising some bus fares and is holding a series of public meetings to outline the proposals. The increases seem reasonable, considering that they are the first ones in eight years.

UCLA's spring game Saturday was going to cost UCLA students $7 for the bus ride to the Rose Bowl. Then Bruins Coach Jim Mora stepped in. And then athletic department officials rethought the matter. Mora had volunteered to pay for students' bus fare to the game, Josh Rebholz , UCLA associate athletic director of development, said on his Twitter account Wednesday night. On Thursday afternoon, athletic department officials decided to pick up the tab for the trip to the Rose Bowl.

Fares on the FlyAway bus service between Van Nuys and Los Angeles International Airport will be reduced nearly 25% beginning Saturday to increase ridership, the Los Angeles Department of Airports announced Thursday. The reduction, approved by the Board of Airport Commissioners in October, will lower the one-way adult fare from $4.50 to $3.50, with children's fares dropping from $2.25 to $1.75.

Fares on the Los Angeles DASH bus system would double over the next 13 months under a plan approved Friday by the City Council. On a 10-0 vote, the council agreed to increase fares from 25 cents to 35 cents starting Aug. 1 and to 50 cents starting July 1, 2011. A second vote is scheduled Tuesday, when the council will be asked to approve an ordinance enacting the fare increases. The increases are part of a larger plan backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's appointees on the Transportation Commission for cutting transit lines and boosting revenue.

Proposed new bus fares for thousands of seniors and the disabled may get even lower if new recommendations by a transit committee are accepted by Orange County Transportation Authority board members. The committee, which met Thursday, recommended the use of about $500,000 a year in gas tax money to further subsidize fares.

Starting Sept. 14, the fare to ride the public bus system in Camarillo will rise from 50 cents to $1 for all riders except students, senior citizens and the disabled. The Camarillo City Council voted Wednesday to increase the price after instituting a new half-fare policy required by the Federal Transit Authority. The city needed to establish the half-fare price for seniors and the disabled as a requirement for receiving a grant from the federal agency to buy two new buses.

Re "A (higher) ticket to ride," editorial, Jan. 26 For too long, bus fares have been kept artificially low in the belief that it would attract more passengers. Instead, ridership has remained relatively flat. This has forced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to starve itself just to preserve these fares, a tactic it can no longer depend on. Meanwhile, other cities have raised their fares to increase bus service, knowing that abundant and reliable services, and not cheap fares, are what truly attract more patrons to public transit.

Senior citizens and the handicapped can expect steep increases in some bus fares as the result of new rates approved Thursday by the Orange County Transit District board of directors. And regular bus riders will pay an extra 5 cents a trip with fares raised to 80 cents under the new rates effective July 1. Fares for the district's Dial-a-Ride program, used primarily by Orange County's handicapped, will be raised from 50 to 80 cents, a 60% increase, a transit district spokeswoman said.

Four bits is now enough to bring a friend along for a bus trip on Sundays and holidays. Until September, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is offering a 50-cent fare to anyone accompanying a person paying the full $1.35 fare on those days. Riders should simply board the bus with the friend and ask for the discounted rate, said MTA spokesman Greg Davy, describing the agency's Fundays program, which started Sunday. Discount coupons are also available wherever discount passes are sold.

A community group is planning a rally Saturday outside the Hall of Administration to protest the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed hike in bus fares and cutbacks in service. The demonstration outside 500 W. Temple St. is scheduled for 9:15 a.m., about an hour before the MTA board is expected to meet, said Lisa Duran, an organizer for the Labor/Community Watchdog organization. "What we're planning is to have a coffin to represent the demise of the bus system," Duran said.

Amid the worst economic downturn since World War II, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is planning to increase fares for the first time in two years to help offset a $204-million gap in its operating budget for buses and rail systems. The proposed fare hike, which will go into effect July 1, is opposed by the Bus Riders Union, which protested the planned increase Tuesday morning outside the MTA headquarters in downtown Los Angeles. Unless the MTA board of directors rescinds the increase, the one-way cash fare will rise from $1.25 to $1.50, a daily pass will go from $5 to $6 and a monthly pass will increase from $62 to $75. Fares will not be raised for people with disabilities, students, Medicare recipients and people who are 62 or older.

The regular fare to ride a bus in Orange County increased by a quarter Sunday, rising to $1.50 from $1.25. The Orange County Transportation Authority's Board of Directors voted in November to increase fares. Fuel costs for OCTA have risen 185% since 2005, the last time fares were increased, and the organization is facing a shortfall of at least $18 million in its annual bus operating budget, spokesman Joel Zlotnik said. The latest increase was also deemed necessary because OCTA may fall behind in its "fare-box recovery," a state requirement that the agency make at least 20 cents on every dollar spent on bus service to receive state funding.

Last year was an unexpectedly auspicious year in the history of public transportation in Los Angeles. Transit ridership -- bus and rail -- rose to 497 million boardings, a level not seen since 1985. That means less traffic congestion, stronger revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and more poor people without cars getting around the city. But there's a wrinkle to this success.

Re "MTA approves steep hikes for bus, rail fares," May 25 The argument that bus fares should be increased boils down to the assertion that bus riders should fund bus services. This ignores the fact that buses are public goods. Buses provide a valuable service to riders, but also to everyone else in Los Angeles. Buses take workers to employment and customers to shops, benefiting both workers and employers, customers and stores. When police or firefighters require additional funds, we do not impose surcharges on store owners or homeowners.

Los Angeles County transit leaders Thursday approved the first across-the-board fare increase in more than a decade, despite emotional testimony from hundreds of bus riders who said they could not afford steep price hikes. The new fares -- which apply to both bus and rail service -- are less than the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's staff had sought but will still increase the amount riders pay significantly over the next two years.

Re "MTA fare hike plan is opposed by riders," March 24 At a time of growing public frustration with freeway traffic and high gasoline prices, few leaders have offered fresh ideas. Instead, we continue to subsidize big oil, big automakers, the trucking industry and home builders by widening freeways. If we redirected a fraction of that subsidy toward public transportation, we could eliminate the Metropolitan Transportation Authority fares altogether. It's this kind of bold move that would entice drivers out of their cars.

Moorpark residents will begin paying 25 cents more for bus service in the city, beginning next Monday. The Moorpark City Council voted 4 to 0 last week to raise fares for the city's bus service from 50 to 75 cents as part of an effort to increase the financial return on the bus program. For the city's bus program to continue qualifying for state funding, annual revenue from fares must equal at least 14.

Orange County bus riders face fare increases totaling 35% by the year 2000 if transit officials approve a staff recommendation next month to cover the cost of providing somewhat expanded service. The staff plan would boost the basic fare from $1 to $1.35 by 2000. Although no fare increase is envisioned this year, there would be fare hikes every two years thereafter. They would be the first in three years.

Re "A (higher) ticket to ride," editorial, Jan. 26 For too long, bus fares have been kept artificially low in the belief that it would attract more passengers. Instead, ridership has remained relatively flat. This has forced the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to starve itself just to preserve these fares, a tactic it can no longer depend on. Meanwhile, other cities have raised their fares to increase bus service, knowing that abundant and reliable services, and not cheap fares, are what truly attract more patrons to public transit.

O.C. transit fares -- An article in Tuesday's California section about rising bus fares in Orange County said that under a new agreement, Metrolink passengers who bought 10-day passes could use them to ride any Amtrak commuter service. Amtrak will accept Metrolink passengers with 10-trip tickets; Metrolink does not issue 10-day passes.